Last year, autumn snowstorms and frigid temperatures harmed thousands of acres of beets across the Big Horn Basin, ultimately leaving much of the crop unharvestable. The fields of rotting beets are a sad sight.

So what happens to all those beets left in the field?

Farmers can’t just leave them in the field, said Jeremiah Vardiman, educator with the University of Wyoming Extension Office in Park County.

“They have to remove them some way,” he explained. “Grazing is the most sought-after method, because you can still get some value out of the crop.”

Fred Hopkin, who grows sugar beets out in Penrose, said he’s heard various “horror stories” about what happens when something isn’t done with the beets.

The beets turn into mush in the soil when they’re not harvested, but they can still feed animals. In his opinion, sheep do a lot better job of munching up the dead beets than cows.

After the grazing is done, there’s still about half the mushy beet left in the ground, and that is disced under, which Hopkin said “cuts them up a little more.”

The remaining clumps of beets are a bit of a nuisance sometimes, Vardiman said, but the organic matter adds nutrients to the soil.

“It can be of benefit,” he said.

The farmers have to use a two-year crop rotation to prevent pathogens being passed onto the next year’s crops, especially when the beets aren’t harvested. So the following year, they’ll plant a different crop family. Beets are a root crop, so they’ll plant grass crops like corn or legumes like beans.

As far as what the season has in store for sugar beets this year, Vardiman said it’s hard to say. While the weather has been warm lately, it’s always a gamble in farming. Early spring warmth can easily become a freeze later, delaying planting.

“We need that warm weather to thaw the soil and get planting in the field. If everything freezes in March, you’re no more thawed because of warm months,” he said.