But through it all hail and wind, timely rains and sunshine most crops have fared well.

In North Dakota, more than 80 percent of the sugar beet crop is in good to excellent condition.

The numbers on the Minnesota side of the Red River are not as high, but still encouraging.

The sugar beet crop is generally in good condition because of adequate moisture and the recent hot weather, said David Berg, vice president of agriculture at American Crystal Sugar Co. in Moorhead.

The big agronomist in the sky really smiled on us, Berg said.

In North Dakota, 49 percent of the sugar beet crop is in good condition, 15 percent is in fair and 33 percent is in excellent condition, according to a crop survey by the North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service.

About half of Minnesotas sugar beet crop also is in good condition. About 21 percent of the crop is fair and 13 percent is in excellent condition, the Minnesota Agricultural Statistics Service reports.

Even the late-planted beets have shown remarkable progress, Berg said. In a lot of cases you cant pick out the late (planted sugar beets) from the early.

Farmers want to plant sugar beets by mid-May to maximize the crops yield potential. But excessive moisture pushed this years plantings well into June.

The yield will be lower on the late beets, but theyre not going to be poor, Berg said.

We got them in because of a lot of hard work and a lot of risk taking on the part of the shareholders, he said. And the risk paid off because the weather has really treated them well.

Weve gone from one extreme to the next, Hope, N.D., farmer Randy Richards said of this summers weather.

The trouble started in the spring when heavy rains delayed planting

Then we were getting dry to the point the crops were beginning to suffer and now were back to being too wet again, Richards said.

Recent storms, however, have been the biggest concern, he said.

Our wheat and barley in the Hope area really took a licking from the high winds and rain, Richards said. It really flattened the grain crops in our area.

The Steele County farmer said he is still assessing damages to his grain crops.

High winds and driving rains havent damaged low-lying row crops or corn and sunflowers because they have thick stalks.

Most of the regions crops dont need more rain, which can increase the risk of disease as harvest nears.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Zent at (701) 241-5526 or jzent@forumcomm.com