| Ask area farmers how their crops fared, and youre likely to get a lot
of different answers.
Thats because extreme weather from perfect growing conditions to
hail and flooding has varied crop quality in the Red River Valley not
only from farm to farm, but from field to field.
What Im hearing is that its been real variable, said John
Kringler, a crop specialist with the University of North Dakota Extension
Service. Not only for sugar beets and soybeans, but small grains, too.
Shareholders in American Crystal Sugar Co. planted 453,000 acres of
sugar beets this spring. Excessive rainfall prevented them from seeding
5,000 acres, and they lost 11,000 planted acres to the disease root rot,
company spokesman Jeff Schweitzer said.
And 29,000 acres of healthy sugar beets will be destroyed instead of
harvested as part of the U.S. Department of Agricultures
Payment-In-Kind program.
The Agriculture Department accepted bids from American Crystal
shareholders Oct. 28 to destroy part of their crop, Schweitzer said.
The USDA approved the PIK program in September to reduce the nations
surplus sugar inventory and its storage costs.
In exchange for destroying some of their crops, farmers will receive
PIK certificates which represent government-owned sugar in storage.
Area farmers will turn in the certificates for cash and their cooperatives
will take possession of the surplus sugar.
Since Oct. 1, American Crystal growers have harvested nearly 60 percent
of their crop about 5 million tons of sugar beets, Schweitzer said.
Sugar beet growers are trucking beets to American Crystals five
processing plants and piling stations throughout the region, he said.
American Crystal shareholders could finish the beet harvest this
weekend, Schweitzer said.
Members of the Wahpeton-based Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative planted
106,000 acres of sugar beets and lost about 2,000 acres to disease and
flooding, spokeswoman Patricia Wilson said.
Minn-Dak growers have harvested about 64,000 acres, she said.
Minn-Dak growers offered to destroy 11,000 acres as part of the PIK
program and the USDA has accepted bids on 9,700 acres, said Allen Larson,
the cooperatives comptroller.
Jim Baker, said hell harvest average sugar beet and soybean crops
this year.
Where we picked up timely rains the beets are excellent, but there
are areas that didnt get adequate moisture and are below average,
said Baker who farms near Sabin, Minn. |