| The sugar beet harvest is in full swing in the valley. Farmers are in
the fields with one eye on the sky, hoping for the weather's cooperation.
WDAY Six reporter Tracy Briggs visits with one farmer as his harvest gets
underway.
Sounds Of...
Tracy Briggs/Wday News:
Like he's done so many years before Steve Sillers is spending part of
his early October in his John Deere, harvesting sugar beets. But this year
is a little different. Not only does an American flag now fly above him
but mother nature is also cooperating.
Steve Sillers/Sugar Beet Farmer:
It's nice and sunny. The ground is dry. You can't beat it. The
temperature is perfect. It's really good.
Tracy Briggs/Wday News:
It wasn't always that way, a wet spring meant Sillers got into the
field late. But so far that doesn't seem to be hurting his harvest.
Sounds Of...
Tracy Briggs/Wday News:
Like all sugar beet farmers Sillers has a short harvest window, just a
couple of weeks. That means he's been pulling 12 hour days. Today he
started at two am.
Steve Sillers/Sugar Beet Farmers:
Yes, very tired. Caffeine becomes a very good friend.
Tracy Briggs/Wday News:
It's not that he didn't know what he was getting into, Sillers is a
fourth generation sugar beet farmer. But at harvest time he wouldn't have
it any other way.
Steve Sillers/Sugar Beet Farmer:
It gets into you. It's a hard habit to break. It's fun. You hate it
when you're in the middle of it, but you love it in January.
Tracy Briggs/Wday News:
Tracy Briggs WDAY Six News.
Dana/WDAY News:
Crystal Sugar is estimating an average yield of 19 tons per acre. Now
they're hoping for moderate weather, highs in the 50's and lows in the
30's. |