Beet trucks are back on the road in Western Sugar Cooperative’s Lovell factory district, and growers have reason to be optimistic about the crop they’re harvesting. 

The early dig in area sugar beet fields began Monday, Sept. 11 with farm to factory deliveries in Lovell. The start date for the factory processing campaign was Sept. 13.  Growers are asked to deliver 6 tons per acre during this pre-pile harvest.

The company’s Starr receiving station east of Powell began receiving farm to station deliveries on Sept. 12. 

After a few days, Starr was scheduled to close with another receiving station opening to receive beets from that area’s growers.

The Starr temporary pile was then hauled by the coop to feed the factory’s 3,000 ton-per-day slice rate. 

All beets harvested during this early period are considered perishable and must be processed within a few days.

“Think just-in-time inventory,” said Tod Stutzman, North End beet grower and a member of Western Sugar Cooperative’s board of directors representing Wyoming growers.  Ric Rodriguez, Heart Mountain grower, is the other Wyoming grower on the nine-member cooperative board.

“Growers always have the option to assign their early harvest allotment to another grower at the same factory district,” Stutzman said. “Not everyone’s situation is the same, and we all work together to keep the factory ‘fed’ during the pre-harvest period.”

Early harvest beets receive a premium price to compensate for lower tonnage and sugar content during this time.

Regular harvest begins on Friday, Oct. 6, subject to weather conditions.

Planted acreage of sugar beets is down slightly this  year. About 500 acres of allocated production were not planted in the Lovell Factory District in 2023.

However, field sampling tests project that the crop will reward growers who planted beets in 2023.

Stutzman said samples gathered three times during the growing season paint a favorable picture for this year’s crop. The overall outlook is for yields averaging 28 tons per acre, with sugar content that he called “exceptional” at 18.5%.

“The 2023 crop is 91% sold at favorable prices which will result in solid gross returns for the growers,” he added.

Five generations of Stutzmans farm North End

The Stutzman family farm story has a long chapter on sugar beets. That would be 107 years long, spanning five generations.

John Jacob Stutzman first established Stutzman Farm in 1916, home-based on the Elk Basin  Highway (Road 9) just under the Frannie Canal near the north rim of the Shoshone Project irrigated farm lands. Through the years, the  farming operation has been incorporated as Stutzman, Inc.

Both the fourth and fifth generation operators are active in Stutzman, Inc. today. They also raise alfalfa for seed production, malt barley, corn and wheat and feed lambs over the winter.

Tod Stutzman serves on the board of directors of the four-state Western Sugar Cooperative.

The operators, in succession over the 107 years, are logged by generation:

1. John Jacob Stutzman

2. Glenn Stutzman, son of John Jacob

3. John Max Stutzman, son of Glenn

4. Jon Tod Stutzman and brother Brett Stutzman, sons of John Max

5. John B. Stutzman and brother Garrett Stutzman, sons of Brett