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Farmers welcome fall weather ... Beets need cool for sugar content |
| By
Cindy Snyder, Times_News
correspondent October 8, 2001 |
After a long summer of fighting heat and trying to stretch irrigation water as far as possible, a long stretch of warm fall days and nights had given Mother Nature another opportunity to vex growers -- particularly sugar beet growers. "To get sugar we need a frost," said Dean Stevenson, who raises sugar beets and grain near Paul. "When nighttime temps are in the 50s, it's hard to get sugars." But potato growers haven't been complaining. The long warm spell has helped improve both potato yields and quality. "Potatoes look like they're turning out pretty well," said Chuck Coiner, who raises Norkotas near Twin Falls. Many growers are finding quality varies from field to field, depending on variety and planting date. As a variety, Norkotas seem to have taken the heat better than Russet Burbanks, which have a lot of knobs this season. Potatoes are smaller this season. Specific gravities, another quality indicator, are also more variable. Quality has definitely been impacted by the weather, said Paul Patterson, but the extent of the impact isn't known. "People tend to be excessively positive or negative at harvest," the University of Idaho extension crop economist said. Fallout from the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 is still being factored into the potato market. People are eating out less at the white-table restaurants, a large market for Idaho potatoes. With that market shrinking, the fact that size is down may not hurt Idaho growers as much as it would in a year with high demand for size A potatoes, Patterson said. Although yield and quality are off this year, prices have improved from a year ago. According to the USDA-Market News Service in Idaho Falls, a 50-pound carton of potatoes for food service and restaurant use is selling for $20-$21 per hundred pounds compared to $7.50 to $8 last year. A 10-pound mesh bag of potatoes for retail use is going for $13-$13.50 per hundred pounds, up from $8 last year. Beets need cool While the warm fall has helped improve the potato situation, sugar beet growers wouldn't mind a light frost. "There's a lot of variability in yields," said Dean Stevenson, who raises sugar beets and grain in the Paul area. "I don't think we have as high of sugar (content) as we did last year." Hot, dry weather in the middle of the growing season didn't hurt the beet crop as much as the cold, windy spring did. Some growers have described last spring as one of the toughest years they can remember for getting a beet crop up and going. On the flip side, the long stretch of warm fall days and nights is sapping sugar content. Beets need cool days and nights to bulk up on sugar, and nights in the 50s don't meet that criteria. Growers are paid based on both yield and sugar content. Sugar content at the beginning of early harvest "wasn't really exciting," said John Schorr, ag manager for Amalgamated's Mini-Cassia District. Sugar content improved as early harvest neared completion on Friday, and once more "normal" fall weather sets in, Schorr expects sugar to be more normal also. Unlike last year's record crop, the 2001 season is producing "a good, solid, average crop," he explained. Other crops Considering the short irrigation water supply and heat, harvest is proving the crop year turned out better than most had expected early in the season. Bean yields, while down, have pleasantly surprised many growers, and quality is good. Short water supplies turned into smaller hay cuttings during the season, but "the hay prices make up for a lot of ills," Twin Falls farmer Chuck Coiner said. Hay prices shot up early in the season when it first became apparent that hay would be in short supply but have held fairly steady since. According to the USDA Market News in Moses Lake, Wash., supreme hay is selling for $140 to $145 a ton, while premium hay is going for $115 to $138 a ton. Good quality hay is at $105 to $115 a ton, feeder hay is $90 to $106 and oat hay is $80 to $90. Wheat and barley have turned out to be the biggest crop disappointments for Coiner this year. The lack of irrigation water has also slowed fall field work. "We've postponed fall work because of the lack of water," he explained. "We're slow getting our stubble taken care of." |
