Sugar beet replanting begins

Posted 5/11/10

Temperatures were cold at the end of the week, Rodriguez said, but his fields were hit harder early last week.

“Probably, I think Monday or Tuesday night did most of the damage,” when a rain-snow mix froze overnight, he said. He …

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Sugar beet replanting begins

Posted

Sugar beet growers are replanting Powell-area fields nipped by frost last week.Heart Mountain grower Ric Rodriguez replanted some fields over the weekend after some of his beets froze earlier in the week.

Temperatures were cold at the end of the week, Rodriguez said, but his fields were hit harder early last week.

“Probably, I think Monday or Tuesday night did most of the damage,” when a rain-snow mix froze overnight, he said. He replanted some fields, as did some of his neighbors.

Overall, Rodriguez said, only a small percentage of fields were lost. He wasn't sure how many acres would be replanted.

“It wasn't a huge event,” he said, “but any event isn't good. A few guys had to replant. Not too many of them.”

Rodriguez, who is also a member of the Western Sugar Cooperative board of directors, said the co-op's field men were out surveying damage in local fields, although he had not seen a report.

Western Sugar Cooperative spokesmen did not return calls by press time.

Overnight temperatures hovered in the 20s through Saturday night, and this week's forecast continues to be cool and gloomy with a chance of rain or snow daily through Friday.

Glen Reed, who raises sugar beets near Cody and is president of the Big Horn Basin Beet Growers Association, said Monday he still was checking his fields for damage.

“Saturday night was pretty tough on them,” Reed said.

He was awaiting reports from growers on damages to their fields.

It isn't just the overnight cold temperatures that are thwarting beet growth, he said. “A lot of factors” influence beet development, and cold, cloudy days don't give seedlings much chance to emerge.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for clouds to linger to the weekend, although Saturday and Sunday are expected to be sunny with highs in the 60s or 70s.

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