Good sugar beets

The summer was one for the record book in the Pacific Northwest. But despite unprecedented heat and drought, one industry that fared very well was sugar beets. Brad Griff, Executive Director of the Idaho Sugar Beet Growers Association, says he was pleasantly surprised how well the beets weathered everything 2021 threw their way.

“We thought it would reduce yields a little bit, so the fact that we were above our five-year average on sugar content and just a little below the yields in terms of tons per acre, I think that was a little bit surprising.  But, it does bode well if we do have years where temperatures continue to be high that sugar beets will do well and hopefully will continue to be a bright spot for growers into the future.”

 

Griff noted that the sugar beet season started off very challenging as well with strong winds and cold temperatures. But despite that, this year’s crop reported 18% sugar content, well above the five-year average, and 39.5 tons per acre, just slightly below the five-year average.

When looking ahead to 2022, Griff says Mother Nature is the issue of most concern right now.

“We do water ever acre of sugar beets, which gives us an advantage in terms of yield and the size of beets that we have.  So, we need snow; we need a lot of snow.  I’m sure your listeners are aware a lot of the reservoirs in our area were depleted in trying to keep up, keep our fields wet, keep the crop wet in spite of this heat.”

 

Griff added every time Idahoans shovel their driveway this winter, that’s good news for sugar beet growers.