Beet harvest winds down

Published online: Nov 07, 2016 News
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FARGO, N.D.—The sugarbeet harvest campaign is largely finished in the Red River Valley, with American Crystal Sugar Co. shareholders setting records by more than 9 percent. The harvest is a bit harder to pin down in the southern valley, with Minn-Dak pondering whether to harvest its last 12 percent.

Brian Ingulsrud, vice president of agriculture for American Crystal Sugar Co. in Moorhead, Minn., says the 30.5-ton-per-acre yield beats the 2015 record high of 27.9 tons per acre. Harvest was 99.7 percent completed as of Oct. 26, with a few growers in the Crookston, Minn., and Hillsboro, N.D., factory districts still trying to finish.

The crop ranged from 33 to 34 tons per acre south of U.S. Highway 2 to 27 tons per acre in the  northern areas.

Low on sugar

"There are a few growers in the very north end of the growing region, in the East Grand Forks (Minn.) and Drayton (N.D.) districts that have some very muddy fields," Ingulsrud says. "This last rain may prove too much to get those completed."

Crystal has brought in about 11.7 million tons. The company typically attempts to size its crop to about 10.8 million tons, to keep it in line with its processing capacity in five factories. Piling stations in the southern end of the valley — particularly in the Hillsboro and Crookston factory districts — had no room to spare.

"I'll say, we'll be putting our factories to a test to slice beets at a very good pace to get through this crop," he says.

Source: www.prairiebusinessmagazine.com