In a prepared new release from J. Kent Wimmer, Director of Agriculture for Westen Sugar, Billings is slated to begin campaign on September 21, Lovell on Tuesday, Sept. 25, Scottsbluff, Neb., and Fort Morgan, Colo., on Sept. 27, and Greeley, Colo., on Oct. 9.

Campaign operations, Wimmer said, are scheduled to be complete by mid-January for Colorado and Nebraska and by the first week of February for Montana and Wyoming.

Wimmer, in an interview Friday, said the start dates are a little later than normal. Our acres are down a little but we still have a pretty good crop, he said.

He said the drought conditions may affect how many tons of beets the company actually brings down noting that on Emblem bench we are quite concerned about the crops. A nice rain would be nice right about now.

He said in areas where there is little or no water, the beets will be difficult to finish.

Lovell factory senior agriculturist Gordon Freide said, The crop for the most part, except Emblem, is average or above average. If we have enough water to finish the crop everything indicates we will have an average crop.

He added that some growers in the Heart Mountain area are having to stretch out days between irrigation, but others in the area should have enough water for the rest of the growing season.

In Emblem, however, only a few growers have any water left, with many having to go without at this time.

If we got two inches of rain I think some of those crops would recover, otherwise were looking at about 1,000 acres that wont be harvested, Freide said. The big thing is what will we get next year. We need an above average snowpack this winter or well be in trouble next year.

In the news release, Wimmer said the market has strengthened compared to the past two years and the prospects for better beet pricing are improved.