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Trucks rolled into Monitor Sugar's headquarters at
dawn, officially kicking off sugar beet season.
Even before 8 a.m., when dumping was to begin, piles
of sugar beets were forming.
"This is what it's all about. This is what we
wait all season for," said Paul Pfenninger, vice president of
agriculture at Monitor Sugar Co., 2000 S. Euclid Ave. "It's a
beautiful morning and with a dry week ahead, we're looking at a great
harvest."
More than 700 growers are scheduled to harvest an
estimated 63,370 acres of sugar beets this year, compared to the 66,624
acres harvested last year.
"We had hoped to harvest 70,000 acres this year,
but because of severe rain damage in some areas and the government's
payment in kind program, we ended up with fewer acres this year,"
Pfenninger said.
The PIK program pays farmers to destroy their sugar
beet crops in an effort to keep yields down in a very healthy market.
Pfenninger said Monitor Sugar growers will plow under 2,060 acres of sugar
beets this year.
Even so, Pfenninger said he expects growers to
deliver around 1.2 million tons of sugar beets, about the same as last
year.
"It was a great year for beets, better than last
year," Pfenninger said. "The quality is very good because of
adequate rainfall in most areas and a lack of weeds and diseases in the
fields."
Terry Weiss, who grows 450 acres of sugar beets with
his brothers Tom and Dan Weiss, said beets thrived this year because many
growers were able to plant about one month ahead of schedule.
"We got beats in this year at the end of March
and the beginning of April," Terry Weiss said. "That gave them
more time to develop and grow. As a result, I think a lot of guys have
some pretty good looking beets."
Pre-harvest sugar samples taken by Monitor Sugar
showed sugar content around 16 percent, Pfenninger said.
"The average sugar content is 18.01 percent and
we expect this year's beets will be above that," Pfenninger said.
By mid-October, Pfenninger said the traditional
20-by-180 piles of sugar beets will begin forming. For now, the piles will
remain relatively small because slicing will begin within 10 days.
"Today, the weather is perfect for piling up
beets," Pfenninger said. "We like it to be between 35 and 50
degrees. But, we can't count on it staying this cool until mid-October.
Until then, we'll build the piles and then take them down."
In warmer weather, heat can build up in the piles and
spoil beets.
Pfenninger predicts Monitor Sugar will bring in about
50,000 tons of beets by the end of the day Wednesday. By mid-October, he
said they will bring in 100,000 tons per day.
Employment at Monitor Sugar is set to go from around
180 year-round workers to between 600 and 700 during beet season.
Receivers will continue to collect beets until the beginning of November
and slicing will last until February.
"It's about a 150-day campaign," Pfenninger
said.
The first payment to growers will be made Dec. 15,
with additional payments scheduled for April, August and October of next
year.
Pfenninger expects this season's payments to be
similar to payments being made on last year's crop.
"So far, we have paid $31 per ton on last year's
crop with the final payment scheduled for Oct. 25," Pfenninger said.
"Prices are historically low right now; I heard they are at a 27-year
low. Everything looks so good, except for prices.
"Prices are not good."
-Rob Clark is business editor for The Times. He can
be reached at 894-9642. |