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Freezing temperatures and snow slowed the area sugar beet harvest over the weekend, but the good news is that crop damage was averted.
The thermometer dipped briefly into the low to mid- 20s …
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Freezing temperatures and snow slowed the area sugar beet harvest over the weekend, but the good news is that crop damage was averted.
The thermometer dipped briefly into the low to mid- 20s early Sunday, and beet receiving stations all across the Lovell Factory District were closed for a few hours while a damage assessment was completed by Western Sugar Cooperative officials.
No damage was registered from the cold temperatures of Sunday morning, said Ric Rodriguez, Heart Mountain grower and beet board member. All beet dumps except the Factory station at Lovell opened at 11 a.m. Sunday. The piling ground at Lovell was too wet and slick to get trucks in and out.
The pace of the harvest will quicken this week, as the forecast is for colder temperatures by the end of the week.
“We’ll see what shakes out by then,” said Rodriguez.
About 70% of the district’s acreage has been harvested, and that should be over 80% by the weekend of Oct. 24 without weather interruption. Western Sugar’s Billings district was only 65% complete on Monday, and the harvest was suspended there under snow cover.
— Dave Bonner
