The Red River Valley Sugarbeet Stockpile Harvest looks to be nearly 100% complete sometime this week. With the record high temperatures in early October, the start of the harvest saw an 11-day delay. The job is now nearly complete, and the processing of the sugar from the beets that have been piled will continue sometime into next spring.
Eric Ptacek is the Agronomy Manager for the American Crystal Sugar’s Crookston and East Grand Forks Districts, and he said the harvest was very successful. “You know it went really well. We had the heat and a little bit of rainfall at the start, which delayed us but then once we got started, it went well,” said Ptacek. “We had 9-10 days pretty much straight through where we were able to pile, and overall, it was good.”
Getting the beets out of the ground is only the beginning of the process. The five American Crystal Sugar factories in the Red River Valley located in Drayton, East Grand Forks, Crookston, Hillsboro, and Moorhead will continue processing the beets 24/7 for the next several months. “With our crop size, our five factories will be processing sometime into mid-May,” said Ptacek. “That’s our plan, for now, we put the beets into the piles in good condition, and they were healthy, so the storage season has begun.”
As Ptacek said, the condition of the beets is good, and he said the weather has a big part to do with that. “Cool fall weather and a cold winter will help our storage season,” said Ptacek. “We put the beets in the piles at the right temperature and now will manage them throughout the winter. As far as condition goes, they’re excellent right now because they’re fresh. Will see how it continues to go into the winter and spring.”
Ptacek also noted due to the weather conditions during the harvest, the road conditions throughout the harvest were in good shape as there wasn’t a lot of mud leftover on the roads. However, just because the harvest season is nearing an end doesn’t mean drivers shouldn’t be aware and drive safely. Safety will continue to be a top priority for American Crystal Sugar and should be for the rest of the drivers traveling the roadways.
