When it comes to commercial sugarbeet production, only the best will do.
Each year, the Snake River Sugarbeet Research and Seed Alliance receives seeds for new varieties of sugarbeets to be tested. The alliance—a seed governing committee of growers, Amalgamated Sugar Co. staff and Snake River Sugar representatives—seeks to improve seed quality and performance for the growing region.
With thousands of acres of sugarbeets planted in Idaho each year, seed companies continually vie for new varieties to be approved for use by Idaho growers.
“It’s a very competitive industry,” said Mark Duffin, executive director of the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association.
Beta Seed, Syngenta/Hilleshog, Crystal Beet Seed, Maribo Seed and SESVanderHave are some of the major companies that regularly send sugar beet seeds for testing. Each company has breeders who develop new varieties.
“We test the different varieties for disease resistance, quality, sugar content and recoverable sugars,” Duffin said.