"It's perfect weather. I like the temperatures." -
Russ Fullmer
The recent cold weather is just what the doctor ordered for this year's
sugarbeet crop.
"This cold weather is good for beet piles," said Don
Steinbeisser, president of the MonDak Beet Growers Association. "This
weather has helped a lot."
"I'm happy with it," said Russ Fullmer, agriculture manager
at Holly Sugar. "It's perfect weather. I like the temperatures."
Fullmer said wind played a key role in cooling the interior temperature
of the beets.
He said in an "ideal world," highs will be in the mid 20s and
nighttime lows will be about 0.
A four-day cold snap in early October forced a unique agreement between
area growers and Holly Sugar. The growers decided to accept an offer made
by Holly Sugar CEO/President Roger Hill. The agreement has the growers
paying all the variable and fixed costs plus a toll of $5.25 per ton for
the processing of the frozen beets in exchange for full ownership of the
resulting sugar, molasses and pulp.
"For the next 100 days, the growers association is essentially
running the factory," Steinbeisser said at the time of the agreement.
Steinbeisser said growers will receive their usual payment on Nov. 20,
as stated in the regular contract.
Fullmer said payment for toll (frozen) beets may also be made around
Nov. 20.
"It looks better than it did for a while," Steinbeisser said.
"It's a lot better than it could have been," Fullmer said.
Fullmer gives credit to growers for removing frozen material from
beets. "That helped a lot," he said.
Fullmer says processing of the toll beets is expected to last another
month and a half. |