5-18 FB Slow Beet Season

 Mother nature gives and takes. We’re at her mercy and sometimes that’s good and other times it’s not. I’m David Sparks and we’ll talk sugar beets in a minute. Ron Abrowitch from the Snow Service here in Idaho has been telling us that the wet, cold spring has been a good thing because first of all, the snow melt hasn’t come too quickly and the snow pack has been added on to. All that means that we may not have grave water problems throughout the summer.

 So let’s postulate that with sufficient water we can grow our crops here in Idaho. Sounds great except for the fact that the same weather that brings water also can wreak havoc on sugar beets.  Recent Winds that reached over 40 miles per hour have shaken small seedlings back and forth in the ground. Growers and agronomists who have dug up small plants are finding small pinch points that cause damping off. Frost can do the same thing. Here’s Executive Director of the Idaho Sugar beet Growers Association, Mark Duffin: “Once the crop has to be re-planted, those will be later than the others and it definitely will affect the overall crop because it is late and it’s been a tough spring.” One doesn’t yet know how many acres will have to be re-planted but it is serious enough to demand that extra seed is being brought in from other states.