8-23 FB Sugarbeet Drought

Sugarbeet production seems to be shaking off the effects of the drought, certainly in Idaho.

 Several weeks ago I called Mark Duffin, Executive director of the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association and asked him how things were going with the sugarbeet crop in view of our extended drought throughout the country. At that time Mark said that the growers that he had talked to, and that was quite a number, seemed to be very happy with the 2012 crop. Well it turns out that the story has been repeated throughout the Northwest and across the nation. Projections for a strong sugarbeet crop everywhere seem to be very positive. So positive in fact, that Idaho sugarbeet growers may be disappointed in the fact that prices seem to have dropped a little bit recently. All of that said, listen to what top level Farm Service Agency administrator Juan Garcia who visited Idaho  a very short time ago had to say about what he saw of our sugarbeet crop:  “I have seen some sugar beets along with the large sugarbeet production here, I’ve seen processing plants.”  So on the whole it would appear that at least one of our crops is not as heavily subjected to the devastating drought of 2012 as so many others.