Sugar beet receiving stations around the area have been receiving truckloads of sugar beets since the end of September; most stations are soon to be finished with pre-pile.
Culbertson is already finished with pre-pile and the Sugar Valley site and Sidney factory yard are around 50% complete followed by the Savage site.
Pleasant View’s receiving station is roughly around 11-12% complete, because weather has been holding them up. “The weather really hit those guys up there; first it was too hot and then they got snow and now rain. So, they have really been struggling,” said Duane Peters, Sidney Sugars Incorporated agriculture manager.
As of Monday, Oct. 18, the sugar content is at 18.5%. Peters said, “Overall, we are happy with the way the sugar is looking, anytime we see sugars like this we are pretty happy.”
Although the sugars seem to be doing well, they are not so satisfied with tons per acre.
Peters said, “The tons of beets are struggling this year, averaging around 27 to 28 tons. This is something that we did not expect. We thought we were going to see about a 30-ton crop, but September might have hurt us a lot. Several guys stopped irrigation a little early, and I think we got too dry because we did not get showers until the middle of October. We will see how tons come around, hopefully we will see an increase in the last 50%.”
Peters can’t thank the growers enough for all of their hard work this year. He added, “We hope everyone stays safe out there. We would like to remind area drivers that the beet harvest is on, and those beet trucks don’t stop on a dime. Please adjust time accordingly to account for truck traffic for the next few weeks.”
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