Beet Harvest Begins Despite Higher Temperatures

Beet harvest 2012 began last week, starting with Culbertson on Thursday, followed by Sugar Valley and the factory on Friday. South station openings were delayed due to excessive heat. Plans are to have those open by mid week. All stations were closed over the weekend. Staggering the start dates gives Sidney Sugars’ staff the opportunity to make sure each station is running properly especially with all the new workers each year. The factory needs a couple of stations open in order to start processing, plus the re-haul trucks start with Culbertson, hence the “first start” date there. After this initial delay, growers and the factory are hoping for a better harvest than last year when high temperatures forced many delays. “We’ll be watching the beet temperatures,” Fullmer stated. “This fall has been a lot cooler, so we should have more full days and keep going.”

Fullmer is comfortable with their earlier tonnage prediction of 26.6. He isn’t predicting a sugar content however, saying only that he believes it will be better than last year. “These cool nights and sunny days are perfect for the beets to store sugar,” he said.

Net acres are up substantially this year, at 33,200, compared to last year when a lot of acres were lost to flooding. “Every year, we lose some acres, but gain some in other areas,” Fullmer said.

Sidney Sugars is still looking for campaign help, but Express Employment has filled the harvest positions, once again relying on many RVers who like to travel and work the harvests. Those RVers are set up at the Richland County Fairgrounds compliments of Sidney Sugars. Anyone living in tents is required to find their own space.

Sidney Sugars will have its regular harvest report on 660 KEYZ, and will also mass text the growers with shutdowns or any other important issues. Improvements in technology will also help growers get their sugar content quicker and easier, with reports being sent automatically from the quality lab each night. Also, the accounting department will verify the data from the previous day and send it to the scale houses, so the sugar tickets are right there for the growers.

As always, safety is of primary concern. Traffic is already heavy on local roads, even Hwy 16 S, plus with the dry conditions, dust will be a huge issue. Beet trucks enter the highways slowly and need time to get up to speed. Fullmer urges everyone to pay attention, drive carefully and make this a safe harvest.