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<\/p>\nThe 2017 sugarbeet harvest in the United States is wrapping up with mixed results.\u00a0 The USDA\u2019s sugar and sweeteners outlook for November lists Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon as states to see a drop in sugarbeet production in 2017 while Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado have all seen gains.\u00a0 Each sugarbeet growing region faces variability in sugar content and yields which can swing the amount of sugar grown per acre from year to year.
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In the Red River Valley, this year\u2019s beet crop was good.\u00a0 American Crystal Sugar Co. averaged 30.1 tons\/acre with sugar up this year to above 18% compared to last year\u2019s 17%.\u00a0 The higher sugar increases the payment to growers.\u00a0\u00a0 Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative harvested 31.5 tons\/acre while leaving 5% of acres in the field to match factory capacity.\u00a0 The sugar percent was over 17% compared to last year\u2019s 15.5%.<\/p>\n
Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative harvested approximately 30.5 tons\/acre while voluntarily leaving 5,000 acres of sugarbeet in the field to accommodate factory capacity.\u00a0 Sugar was up to 16.5 %. Michigan Sugar was the story of two tales.\u00a0 Sugar percent was up to 18.5% while beet tons were down to 25.5 tons.\u00a0 Yields were off almost 5 tons from what is now considered average.<\/p>\n
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Amalgamated Sugar almost harvested 7 million tons with sugar percent coming in just under 17%.\u00a0 The sugar percent was disappointing after last year\u2019s sugar 18%.\u00a0 Yields averaged around 40 ton\/acre which is lower than last year.\u00a0 In Montana, Sidney Sugar harvested a 31.25 ton crop with 17.9% sugar.\u00a0 Western Sugar yielded 36.4 tons with 17.4% sugar.\u00a0 That is the second largest yield for Western farmers.\u00a0\u00a0 In Lovell, Wyoming, the tons were down to 27.9 and sugar was 17.2%.<\/p>\n
The 2017 harvest is a mixed bag of results.\u00a0 Some Cooperatives performed better than last year, while others did not do as well.\u00a0 The sugarbeet industry is diverse, with each growing area experiencing unique challenges.\u00a0 Sugarbeet farmers continue to persevere, learn from their experiences, and prepare for another growing season.<\/p>\n