6J Farms #1 Second Year in a Row

Terry Cayko and his right hand man of 4 years, Toby Miller, came in first place for the second year in a row in the Sidney Sugars Top Ten Growers of the year for 2012.

Terry and his wife, Vicky, are the 3rd generation owners of 6J Farms in Fairview, MT. They are currently farming approximately 1100 acres and about 363 of those acres are sugar beets.

Cayko knew going in to the year that the soil conditions were very dry, “We didn’t have much for sub-moisture,” commented Cayko. “As soon as the water was in and the seeds were up, we immediately started irrigating the beets.”

Cayko states that the key to his success this year was, “Timeliness, irrigating quickly and spraying Roundup. As soon as we saw weeds we were aggressive controlling them. It’s also important to know your fields and to know the right variety of seed that fits your field. We’ve been going towards Nematoid varieties. It looks like that could be the wave of the future. They’re more expensive in the beginning but they more than pay off in tonnage.”

When asked how the weather affected his crop this year compared to last year, Cayko replied, “We had a real good base. The timely rains up until July were good, and then it was all irrigating. Sugar beets don’t like an abundance of water. We’re careful with how we irrigate. We don’t have rocky, sandy or heavy ground, so we stop irrigating by September 1st.”

Harvest went very well for Cayko and Miller, “We started out with really hot weather and then we had about a 7 day period where it was really nice and we were able to get healthy, good, clean beets in to the pile,” commented Cayko.

Cayko’s favorite part of farming is watching the crop as it develops, seeing the end result and teaching and sharing the process with his grandkids. He proudly stated, “My grandkids will be the fifth generation on the farm.”