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ST. THOMAS, N.D. -- It used to be expanding into sugar beets
meant families didn't have to expand their land base to survive.
But with shrinking sugar beet profit margins in the past three
years, growers like Ron and Larry McMartin are becoming emblematic
of a new trend in sugar beets in the Red River Valley.
The trend involves complex chains of limited partnerships and
joint ventures and family connections, creating farm sizes not heard
of five years ago.
Ron McMartin, 34, farms with his brother, Larry McMartin, 33,
just southeast of St. Thomas in southeast Pembina County, N.D.
Together the brothers control about 8,000 to 9,000 acres of sugar
beets, farming a total of about 20,000 acres in a 20-mile radius.
That's nearly 20 times the typical beet unit of 400 acres.
"There's no question farm size will continue to grow,"
Ron McMartin says. "Whether a handful of producers can grow all
the acres for American Crystal Sugar, I don't think so."
Family history
The McMartin family is Scottish. Their grandfather came to
Pembina County from Canada with a brother. The two eventually split.
Ron Sr. started raising beets in 1983. The farm remained fairly
small -- in the 1,300-acre range -- until 1985.
Little land had been changing hands in the area, so when 7
quarters came up for rent, the brothers left their North Dakota
State University, Fargo, studies as a junior and sophomore, and went
home to expand into beets.
"We didn't have the luxury of letting Dad run the expansion
for us so we could stay in school. It just wasn't going to
work," Ron says.
"People in our area had prospered with beets," Ron
says. "They were a tremendous crop to grow. We'd had some
success growing edible beans and thought this was perhaps an
opportunity to diversify."
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