Sugarbeets should be getting ready to go into the ground later this month in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming, but growers could face some challenges with funding.
In October of 2019, the sugarbeet crop suffered damaging freezes at the beginning of harvest. Growers are still feeling the effects as the Western Sugar Factory is still processing the beets. No one knows yet where growers will stand with payments.
To assist the growers, Senators Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse, both of Nebraska, and seven colleagues have sent a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to take immediate action in implementing the Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations bill, which includes the Wildfire, Hurricane, and Indemnity Program Plus, or WHIP+.
"What we're asking for in the letter is to be able to implement some eligibility provisions for our sugarbeet growers," said Fischer. "It was passed in fiscal year 2020 Appropriations Bill and we're asking that sugarbeet growers get included in that in the whip plus program. It's really essential that these farmers are able to obtain their operating loans."
Fischer and her colleagues are not alone. Kendall Busch, president of the Nebraska Sugarbeet Growers Association and a grower outside of Mitchell, Nebraska, says there are several organizations working on the issue.
"This is a very tough process to get through just to make sure things are working right but right now things look hopeful," said Busch. "FSA, RMA, our processors and CFOs have been working on this very hard and hopefully we'll have an answer in a couple weeks."
Busch says the beets are hard to process right now. Since the beets came into the piles frozen and the purities haven't been the best, that makes them harder to refine. Busch says in terms of payments, producers have to remain hopeful. For this reason, Fischer and her colleagues are working to bring this to Secretary Perdue's attention.
"This affects our growers, it affects communities, western Nebraska is hit by this," said Fischer. "We want to make sure that the growers can take advantage of these programs so that it helps them it helps their families, but we all know how important that is to the communities in western Nebraska."
The bipartisan letter was led by U.S. Senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet of Colorado and was also signed by Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso of Wyoming, along with Steve Daines and Jon Tester of Montana.