BILLINGS—Trucks were rumbling across the scale at the Western Sugar Cooperative factory in Billings on Thursday as farmers start harvesting a near-record crop early for the second year in a row.
Steam rolled out of the factory stacks for the first time since February as a select group of farmers delivered just enough beets to get the machinery turning for what’s expected to be a large crop.
“We got a real good-sized crop this year. Yield is the main driver” for starting early, said Randall Jobman, northern agricultural manager for Western Sugar. “Last year was a record-setting yield of 33.6 tons an acre in Montana and probably a ton less this year.”
Growing conditions for Montana sugarbeets were favorable this summer, with nighttime temperatures that were mostly cool, preventing disease.
Western had to fire up early to accommodate the extra beets. The cooperative likes to wrap up sugar production in mid-February.
Farmers in Forsyth were the first to harvest, starting Wednesday. Jobman said he expects the sugar content of the beets to be excellent this year.
Montana farmers plant about 45,000 acres of sugarbeets annually. Acres had been pared back in recent years because of low sugar prices.
However, sugar prices are on the rebound, ranging from 32 to 36 cents a pound at the production level. Last year, the U.S. sugar industry managed to turn back Mexican sugar that was being dumped onto the U.S. market in violation of trade policy. The move benefited prices.
Global sugar production is also down, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture, which improves the economy for producers.
Source: www.missoulian.com