| MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Full-scale sugar beet harvest is expected to start at
midnight Oct. 1, say American Crystal Sugar Co. officials.
"That's our traditional startup date," spokesman Jeff
Schweitzer says. "We'll go by that as long as the weather holds out
and is favorable for harvest."
Crystal started with 485,000 acres to harvest. They lost 10,000 to root
rot. From the total, growers have offered about 35,000 acres for the
government's "payment-in-kind" or PIK program. This pays farmers
to destroy healthy beets to remove market-
depressing sugar inventories from government stock.
Schweitzer says the U.S. Department of Agriculture hasn't yet said how
many of the acres bid for the PIK program will be accepted and destroyed,
but his company has set a "place-holder" of about 15,000 acres
for the program. That leaves an estimated net number of 460,000 acres to
harvest, of which 8 percent already have been harvested in the pre-pile
harvest, which was scheduled to end Sept. 28.
Pre-pile harvesting gets sugar factories started and "opens"
or prepares fields full-scale harvest.
Crystal is projecting a 19-ton-per-acre average yield, with a 17.5
percent sugar content -- a total of about 8.7 million tons.
"Those are early estimates," Schweitzer says. "The
weather we've had .. has been excellent for sugar production, so
hopefully, we will show more promise in the sugar content area."
Schweitzer says many beets were planted late and some were hit by
excessive moisture, so farmers will see a "pretty varied range"
of yields and sugar contents.
Minn-Dak
Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative of Wahpeton, N.D., will start full-scale
harvest sometime this week, says Tom Knudsen, vice president for
agriculture. Minn-Dak doesn't set a date, but gives its growers notice a
day or two ahead of time.
Minn-Dak has 102,000 acres to harvest, "pre-PIK," Knudsen
says. About 2,000 acres drowned out.
Minn-Dak will "struggle to average 17 percent sugar," Knudsen
says. That's because of late planting and far below last year's 18.5
percent average. The co-op's growers offered about 11,000 acres for the
PIK program, but at various bid levels, and the co-op isn't making any
projections on how many will be destroyed.
"No prediction," Knudsen says. "We don't know. It's like
the lottery." |