On the way
Area farmers gear up for a later-than-usual beet harvest
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Friday, October 3, 2008 11:01 AM PDT
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| In a couple of weeks, this piler at the Luse beet dump, just off of Railroad Avenue, will be busy as the sugar beet harvest begins. |
ONTARIO — The beet harvest in the Ontario area will most likely open around Oct. 13, and sugar beet processing is already set to start Oct. 16, according to an Amalgamated Sugar Company crop calendar.
Meanwhile, the jury is still out regarding the use of the vaunted Roundup-ready sugar beets and whether they will generate enough return to offset the additional cost. At least two area growers, though, said they were pleased with the new technique.
Roundup-ready sugar beets are genetically designed to contain a tolerance to Roundup brand herbicides, allowing farmers to use the application through most of the growing season.
“I’m supposed to start (harvesting) Oct. 13,” Ontario-area farmer Roy Hasebe, who farms 135 acres of beets, said.
Hasebe noted beets, like other crops, are a bit behind this year because of the weather.
“The beets look pretty good because of the Roundup-ready beets,” he said. “ I don’t know what the tonnage is.”
Because of the cold spring, Hasebe said he was worried about irrigating at the wrong time for fear that would bring about disease in the plants. As a result he delayed his first irrigation by about two weeks. But some of the seed did get into moist soils and germinated ahead of the irrigation, Hasebe said, and those beets are bigger than the beets that came up after irrigation.
“We have big beets and we have smaller beets,” he said, adding that the difference is very noticeable.
Hasebe said he did not have to replant any beets.
“We were very fortunate,” he said.
Hasebe said the seeds for the Roundup ready beets cost $16,000, but the expense was worth it.
“I’m very happy with the Roundup-ready beets. I plan to plant them again.”
Nyssa grower Reid Saito farms 120 acres of beets, after losing some acres some to frost and winds.
“It looks pretty good,” he said of his beet crop.
While the beets got off to a slow start, they ended with good size, Saito said, and he pointed to the use of Roundup-ready beets for the results. There was less competition from weeds, he said.
“We didn’t have to use as many herbicides,” Saito said.
However, it remains to be seen what the return will be to the growers.
“I don’t know about the sugar content,” Saito said. “We will have to wait and see what sugar prices are.”
Noting the cost of the seed was expensive, he said the price included a fee paid to the firm Monsanto for use of the Roundup-ready beet technology. And then, there is the higher costs of fertilizer and fuel to figure in, he said. Saito is hopeful. The Roundup-ready beets should be good for the industry, he said, and help keep growers viable.
