About 15% of the Moorhead-based cooperative’s sugarbeets typically are harvested during pre-pile, which this year began on Tuesday, Aug. 24. Farmers who grow sugar beets for American Crystal Sugar will begin the 2021 main campaign on Friday, Oct. 1.
American Crystal Sugar Co has about 2,800 growers who haul their beets to factory districts in the Minnesota cities of Moorhead, East Grand Forks and Crookston and the North Dakota towns of Drayton and Hillsboro.
There were a few days when the pre-pile wrapped up earlier than planned because conditions were too warm for piling and a few others when rain shut it down, but weather delays generally have been minimal, said Joe Hastings, American Crystal Sugar general agronomist.
Although weather conditions haven’t been much of an issue during the pre-pile harvest, planting and growing conditions this year were less than optimal. Seed emergence in some fields was uneven because of lack of moisture, and drought was prevalent up and down the Red River Valley. Rain, where it did fall, was spotty.
The yields of individual sugarbeet fields vary widely, depending on the amount of rain, Hastings said.
“There are some tremendous fields, and ones that are not as good, and they can be right across the road from one another,” he said.
Overall, the moisture shortages have reduced total production of the early-harvested sugar beets. The crop is estimated at 26.5 tons per acre, Hastings said. That’s about 2.5 tons per acre lower than the company’s average.
Farmers in the company’s five factory districts planted about 411,0000 acres of sugar beets for American Crystal Sugar this spring, so based on a 26.5 tons per acre yield, total 2021 production would be 10.9 million tons.
The sugar beet crop generally appears to be pretty fair, considering the adverse weather conditions that characterized the 2021 the growing season, Hasting said.
"We're optimistic it can be pretty good, for what it's gone through," he said.
Rain during the past month has improved the shape of sugarbeet roots and increased the crop’s canopy, which supplies energy to the roots, Hastings said. The rain also has resulted in better harvest conditions.
The sugarbeets still have a couple of weeks to add tonnage. Whether they do and, if they do, how much, will depend on the amount of rainfall between now and Oct. 1. Once the harvest begins, its length also will depend on weather conditions.
Last year, American Crystal Sugar Co.’s harvest lasted only 17 days, beginning on Sept. 30 and concluding on Oct. 16. The harvest, which was the quickest wrap-up in 25 years, had no rain delays, in contrast to 2019 when it was hampered by excessively wet conditions.
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September 16, 2021 at 05:32PM
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American Crystal Sugar pre-pile harvest moving along at a good clip - AG Week
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