Published 9:30 am Friday, October 7, 2022
Beet growers and processors are welcoming better sugar-storing conditions as harvest gains momentum.
Growers who own Boise-based processor Amalgamated Sugar Co. planted about 180,000 acres of sugar beets in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, similar to the 2021 total. More than 7 million tons are expected from this year’s harvest, said Jessica Anderson, public affairs manager. The crop has produced about 40 tons of beets per acre in recent years.
Early harvest started in south-central and eastern Idaho Sept. 6, and the first 142,000 tons delivered from those areas had a sugar content of 15.66%, she said. That was below the ideal level and “not surprising due to the extreme heat in August and the first 10 days of September.
“With cooler daytime and nighttime temperatures in the forecast, we anticipate sugar content to rise sharply over the next few weeks as the beets mature in their biennial process and begin to store more sugar,” Anderson said.
Brodie Griffin, agriculture vice president for Amalgamated, said sugar content for all beets delivered in September averaged 16.19% after increasing sharply in the last week of the month. That provided confidence that sugar content would continue to rise as harvest moved into October.
Full-year sugar content was 18.41% in 2020 and 18.18% in 2021.
In south-central Idaho and the Upper Snake River region to the east, early harvest for processing ended Oct. 2 and harvest for long-term storage started Oct. 3. In southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon, early harvest was scheduled to end Oct. 9 and harvest for long-term storage was to start Oct. 10.
Amalgamated places beets into long-term storage when their pulp temperature is 55 degrees or lower — 60 in areas that have powered ventilation systems — as long as nighttime temperatures are forecast at 45 or lower for two straight nights. Due to recent higher temperatures, daily harvest operations are starting as early as 4 a.m. to satisfy the standard, Griffin said.
Harvest was 11% completed Oct. 1, he said.
Growers remain resilient despite increasing input costs, water supply uncertainty and changing weather, said Samantha Parrott, Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association executive director.
Yields so far “are good enough given the cold, wet spring we encountered,” Ben Marshall, who farms near Jerome, said Oct. 3. Dry weather was expected, “so we should have a nice window to get a jump on harvest and make good progress.”
Pest and disease pressure wasn’t high, though more Cercospera Leaf Spot has occurred in the last five to 10 years, he said. The disease likes hot days and warm nights, and this year’s longer stretch of high heat prompted him to spray later than usual.
In the Ontario-Vale, Ore., area, Chris Payne said his Powdery Mildew suppression was as effective as he has seen even though that disease usually worsens in high heat.
Many growers got more irrigation water than anticipated. The warm early fall kept beets growing — fortunate after heat lagged early, then surged to a point that growth slowed, New Plymouth, Idaho, farmer Galen Lee said.
