Sugar Beets Look Good This Spring

Sugar beet farmers and Sidney Sugars personnel are smiling right now with multi-million dollar rains producing good stands of beets.

Sidney Sugars agricultural manager Russ Fullmer says the season got off to a rocky start. Planting was late and then the crop was really in trouble with moisture leaving the seedbed. Stands were spotty and some areas were in tough shape. On the positive side, less than 100 acres had to be replanted due to wind damage.

Then the rains came. With the plentiful moisture all over Sidney Sugars growing area, the countryside is beautiful and the fields are really pretty. “They look really good with the beets at the 6 leaf stage in some fields,” Fullmer commented. “Now we need to get some heat and sit back and watch them grow”.

Growers will need to be aggressive about spraying as soon as conditions allow, since the weeds like the moisture just as much as the beets. “Growers will need to use high rates of Roundup, or the generic. The weeds are growing like gangbusters,” Fullmer said. A lot of growers were able to spray all or some of their crops before the rains came, and will need to follow up as needed.

“We’re looking at an average to above average crop,” Fullmer predicted. He said he would never turn down a rain, but heat units are also needed. “We’re behind on growing degree days but I have faith that the heat will come this summer and the crops will take off. We got a late start but we’re doing OK!”