American Crystal Sugar Company met with farmers from across the district at the North Shore room in the Crookston Inn and Convention Center on Monday to provide an update on the harvest and answer questions. American Crystal President/CEO Tom Astrup said they talked about how things might play out over the next 30 days while allowing the farmers to share concerns or ask questions. “We just wanted to let them know everything we know about what has happened so far with the harvest,” said Astrup. “And at least talk about how things might play out over the next 30 days. And listen to the questions and concerns they have about getting the rest of the crop in.”
The weather hasn’t been kind to the harvest this year, and standing water, snow, and muddy fields mean some acres could be a loss. “We think it’s possible,” said Astrup. “It’s too early. We’re not declaring anything a loss at this point, but certainly, there is probably going to be some acres that growers aren’t able to get in and harvest probably even under the best of conditions.”
Astrup told the group that although it hasn’t been an issue in the past, there is room in the agreement to assess fixed costs for abandoned acreage. Asked about the beet payment to the growers in the co-op, Astrup said the first three million tons after covering the business cost are very important. It takes 4 million tons of beets to cover the business, and the remainder adds to the beet payment for growers. Also asked about if there would be fixed costs to those who collect crop insurance, Astrup said the general feeling of the board was that if the difference was significantly more paid for insurance than the beet payment that there would be fixed costs to make it equitable with the growers that do get their beets up. Even so, Astrup said there are still a lot of beets that will come in during the harvest. “I think everybody is concerned, but everybody is rallying around the fact that there is time left,” said Astrup. “With a little help from mother nature, there is still a lot of beets out there that are going to come in.”
The most optimistic growers believe they could begin harvesting again Friday, or Saturday, which could be when the plant opens back up. But Astrup said what they need is for the weather systems to start missing the region so the fields can dry up and the harvest can get going. “We’re hoping for the best,” said Astrup. “We need to miss one of these weather systems and maybe get a week to ten days of dryer weather to get into the field again and get some harvest done. We still think we can have a decent crop if the weather cooperates with us, and that’s really what it all boils down too.”
Harvest labor is also a concern, and the company, along with some growers, has held a couple of feeds and gatherings to keep communication open with the laborers. They also had the staff in last week for a refresher and some work with all laborers getting a full day of work. They will also get paid time and a half throughout the rest of the harvest if they can stay around. Astrup said having enough harvest labor is always challenging, and they will do everything possible to communicate with the laborers and keep them around for when the harvest gets going. “Harvest labor is an issue every year even under the best of conditions,” said Astrup. “Whether it’s on the farm or for us in terms of managing and running the pile sites. As the harvest drags on, keeping those folks around becomes more and more of a concern. We’re trying to do everything we can to work with those folks and communicate with those folks. Hopefully, they’ll stick around, and we’ll be able to keep the harvest going when it starts up again.”
Tags:
