| FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- The sugar beet harvest is under way in the Red River
Valley and early signs point to an average harvest, except for price.
" Prices ... are at a 20-year low and markets continue to be
depressed because of the oversupply situation in domestic markets, "
American Crystal Sugar spokesman Jeff Schweitzer said.
Shareholders at American Crystal, of Moorhead, Minn., and Minn-Dak
Farmers Cooperative, of Wahpeton, began a pre-pile harvest Monday of early
maturing beets.
" It' s kind of fun to get in there and see what you got after
watching them all summer, " Kuehl said Monday while lifting beets
from a field near Glyndon, Minn.
" I think it' s going to be OK, " he said. " It' s not
going to be a record."
The Midwest' s wholesale refined sugar beet price as of July is $22.50
per pound, according to Milling and Baking News, a trade publication that
tracks agricultural news and prices. That is up slightly from the $19 per
pound in June, July and August last year, but down from a high of $51.77
per pound in October 1980. The price in recent years has stayed mostly
around $25, Milling and Baking News said.
" (Price) predictions for this year are at levels as low as we
have probably seen them, " Kuehl said. " But there is talk of
improvement. The optimism is there."
The 8.8 million tons of beets expected to be harvested this year at
American Crystal' s five factories is just below last year' s total of
about 9 million tons.
The sugar content of the beets harvested so far also compares to 2000.
" Our shareholders got into the fields a little bit late, "
Schweitzer said. " But we have had a pretty decent growing
season."
Crystal' s 3, 000 shareholders will harvest about 10 percent, or 880,
000 tons, of beets between now and full harvest in October.
Of the 486, 000 acres of sugar beets planted, about 10, 000 pounds were
lost to disease. Another 15, 000 acres will be destroyed under a
government program aimed at keeping the supply down.
All of American Crystal' s factories are expected to be operating by
Wednesday.
Patricia Keough-Wilson, a spokeswoman for Minn-Dak, said she expected
1.8 million tons of beets to be harvested by the co-op this year, and she
anticipated good sugar content.
Minn-Dak' s factory will also be operating by Wednesday.
" This is the preseason for sugar beets, " Schweitzer said.
" It is an important time for (farmers) to realize some of the
benefits of their crops. This is the time of year that they get to reap
what they sow."
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