Montana Sugar Beet Harvest Just Around the Corner

The Western Sugar factories in Wyoming and Montana plan to begin processing beets on September 9th in both Lovell and Billings.  In addition,  the regular digging will start on October 2nd. At a pre-harvest meeting this week, the Western Sugar growers learned that this years harvest is anticipated to be about the same as last years harvest, creating yet again another bumper crop for sugar beet producers here at home and across the nation. 

Mean while, beet growers in the Sidney area are struggling to get water to about 13,000 acres of sugar beets due to a canal breach caused by an overgrown tree root.  

The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2c8k0fw) the Aug. 21 breach blew out the main canal bank of the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project, flooding a nearby sheep farm.

Crews installed temporary dams to allow irrigators upstream from the break to continue watering their crops. Peters says some downstream users are able to pull water from the Yellowstone River.

According to irrigation project manager James Brower, the repairs are estimated to cost about $500,000, a bill that will be picked up by local irrigators based on the amount of water they use.

© Northern Ag Network 2016

 

 

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