Clear, 69° F
Sugar beets will have a little more time in the ground to finish a promising crop.
The scheduled start of the early 2026 harvest in the Lovell factory district of Western Sugar Cooperative is …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here.
If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here.
If you would like to purchase a subscription click here.
Please log in to continue |
|
Sugar beets will have a little more time in the ground to finish a promising crop.
The scheduled start of the early 2026 harvest in the Lovell factory district of Western Sugar Cooperative is Sept. 28, “or maybe sooner depending on the weather,” said Ric Rodriguez, Heart Mountain grower and member of the four-state cooperative board.
Growers have been advised of the later than usual start date, he said.
“That gives the beets a little more time to grow,” he added.
During early harvest, only the Heart Mountain receiving station west of Ralston and the piling ground at the Lovell factory will be open for deliveries. The factory piling ground is open all the time.
The factory will start slicing beets and making sugar on Sept. 29.
Heart Mountain receiving station will take deliveries for four or five days, then the district goes into regular harvest on Oct. 4, and all receiving stations open up.
“If we got a cool stretch and it looks like it will stay cooler, we have the ability to cancel the early harvest and start the general harvest and open up all receiving stations,” Rodriguez said.
Right now the weather looks favorable heading into the early harvest, he said.
“Quality is really good right now,” Rodriguez summarized. “Sugars look good; it should be a good crop.”
The Lovell district is projecting a crop averaging about 27.5 tons of beets per acre. The 10-year average yield for the Lovell district is 28.5 tons per acre.
Sugar content in 2026 beets is forecast to average 18.75%. That’s about a normal sugar content, Rodriguez said.
“Maybe not as good as last year, but 2025 was exceptional,” he noted. “Great tonnage, great sugar, great all the way around."
Another measure rendered by field sampling is crop purity. That’s a measure of highly concentrated sugar.
The last sample of the 2026 crop in August showed the purity at 89.1%, the highest purity in the last 10 years, Rodriguez noted.
The Lovell factory district has two members on the four-state Western Sugar Cooperative board. The other Lovell district board member is Casey Crosby of Lovell.
