MONITOR TOWNSHIP, Mich.—Sugarbeets have long been regarded as one of Michigan's toughest crops. You can throw just about any conditions at them and they still find a way to come through.
That appears to be the case again this year as Michigan Sugar Co. officials today kick off another harvest and beet slicing campaign.
Trucks filled with sugarbeets are set to begin arriving at the company's headquarters, 2600 S. Euclid Ave. in Monitor Township, at 7 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, as growers look to take advantage of an incentive payment for early delivery.
"It was a very challenging planting season, but I think it's going to be a very rewarding harvest season," said Paul Pfenninger, vice president of agriculture for the grower-owned cooperative that has been producing sugar for more than 108 years.
This year's crop got off to a rough start as cold temperatures and wet fields caused a significant delay in planting in the spring. In some cases, growers had to wait weeks beyond their normal start time of early April to plant seeds.
But a combination of favorable summer weather and knowledgable growers has created what company officials expect to be a solid crop.
"We're very excited about the crop we have," said Pfenninger. "Growers have done a fantastic job."
Pfenninger said regular delivery of beets begins in late October, when the factory will be in full swing.
"Right now, we're just taking a small percentage per day," he said. "We'll bring in about three days of slice, and we always try to maintain three days because of the heat. You can't store these beets when it's warm."
Slicing is to begin Friday, Sept. 5, and is expected to be complete in mid March.
Last year, Michigan Sugar harvested nearly 160,000 acres of beets with a yield of 26.1 tons per acre. Total yield was 4.17 million tons, Pfenninger said. The beets had a sugar content of 18.34 percent.
This year, total acreage is a little more than 160,000, with an estimated yield of 28 tons per acre. Total estimated yield is 4.48 million tons, he said.
Pfenninger said the company had hoped for 4.5 million tons.
Michigan Sugar has more than 1,200 shareholders and more than 900 growers producing an acre or more of beets. Beets are grown in 20 Michigan counties and on 10,000 acres in Canada.
On average, the company produces more than 1 billion pounds of sugar annually. Its products are sold in wholesale and retail quantities under the Pioneer Sugar and Big Chief Sugar brands.
Aside from its headquarters in Monitor Township, Michigan Sugar has factories in Sebewaing, Caro and Croswell. It has piling stations in Au Gres, Hope/Midland, Breckenridge, Ithaca, Meade, Verona, Ruth, Deckerville, Sandusky, Gilford, Blumfield, Albee and Dover Centre, Ontario, and warehouses/terminals in Carrollton, Findlay, Ohio, and Fremont, Ohio.
Mike Schmidt, co-owner of Schmidt Farms in Kawkawlin Township, is among those taking advantage of the early delivery incentive. He started harvesting and loading up beets about 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, to prepare for early delivery Thursday.
"There's an incentive that gets us started. We have to get some beets out of the ground to make room for every beet," Schmidt said. "It's something everyone should participate in a little bit."
Schmidt said he grows 500 acres of sugarbeets.
"We think we have an excellent crop right now. We know we do. We started out real late. We were probably three weeks to a month late planting," he said.
But the rain and cool nights have been ideal for the beets.
"Sugar beets have had … a really good summer," he said.
Pfenninger agreed.
"Because of the consistent, persistent rains, the crop has really responded," he said. "Over the weekend, we had rain again. That just is really good for the beet crop."
Pfenninger asked that motorists be patient with the beet delivery trucks that will be on the roads in the coming weeks and months to ensure everyone's safety.
"There's a lot of truck traffic over the next few weeks," he said.
Michigan Sugar typically wraps up its slicing campaign in March. Last year's campaign ended on March 23.
As this year's campaign gets under way, company officials said they are still in need of seasonal employees.
"We are in need of hundreds of applications at all of our factory locations," said Ray Van Driessche, director of community and government relations for the company. "We'd be glad to get applications."
Van Driessche said applications can be picked up and dropped off at the security guard station of the Monitor Township facility and in the agriculture offices at the company's facilities in Sebewaing, Caro and Croswell.
"Applicants should apply at the facility where they wish to work," said Van Driessche, noting that starting pay begins at $9 per hour for the seasonal positions that, depending on the weather, might be anywhere from 25 to 80 hours per week.
"Once we get employees in here and see that they're hard working, we keep their information on file and can pull potential future employees from that file because we've seen they have a good work ethic."
Source: www.mlive.com