The fall script couldn’t have played out better for area beet growers.

Harvesters have been put away in the Lovell factory district of Western Sugar Cooperative, and the summation on 2022 sugar beets is pleasing indeed. 

“A very good, high quality crop this year,” said Ric Rodriguez, Heart Mountain grower and a member of the coop’s board of directors.

Lovell district growers posted an average yield of 27.5 tons per acre, 2 tons to the acre better than projected going into the scheduled start of the beet harvest in early September.  

At that time, management delayed the start of digging almost two weeks to allow for additional growing time for a crop that got off to a slow start due to cold spring weather. The “early dig” was not so early, as receiving stations didn’t open for delivery of beets until Sept. 19. 

The option to wait on harvest and hope for favorable weather paid off.

“The weather was perfect for additional growing time,” Rodriguez said. “And weather conditions remained perfect for a timely harvest.”

Sugar content in 2022 beets is also high quality — right at 18%. An additional measurement of SLM (sugar loss to molasses) is under 1% for the Lovell district beets, “which is very good,” Rodriguez said.

And to complete a perfect picture, the processing factory at Lovell is “operating great,”  he said, having set an all time record for one-day slice of 3,253 tons. The processing campaign is expected to be completed around the first of February.

“Beet piles are very stable at this time,” Rodriguez added. “With cooler temperatures coming, it will  help with storage through the winter.”