Author Archives: kristal

By: Jon Knutson, INFORUM, Fargo Forum AMENIA, N.D. – Seven good days. That’s what Amenia farmer Bill Hejl needs to finish this year’s sugar beet harvest. “We just need some dry weather,” said Hejl, who had to shut down his sugar beet harvest after receiving about 3½ inches of rain in the past week. He’s [...]

By: staff report, Grand Forks Herald GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Wet weather has slowed the sugar beet harvest in parts of North Dakota. Jerry Christenson with American Crystal Sugar said harvesting is at a standstill south of Highway 2, but conditions are better north of there. He said the harvest normally takes about three weeks, [...]

INFORUM, Fargo Forum, Sept 30 After a month of preliminary digging, the American Crystal Sugar Co. beet harvest began full tilt at midnight Tuesday, meaning hundreds of big trucks will be rumbling over roads up and down the Red River Valley. The “stockpile” harvest start was moved up one day from its traditional first minute [...]

September 23, 2009 On September 21, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will have to complete an Environmental Impact Statement for Roundup Ready sugar beets.  This is a procedural decision, in which the court concluded USDA needs to show a more thorough review process than was [...]

By Jeff Barnard, AP Environmental Writer Crookston Daily Times Grants Pass, Ore. -GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge overturned government approval of a variety of sugar beet genetically engineered to resist a popular weed killer produced by agricultural giant Monsanto, according to a ruling released Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in San [...]

By: Staff Writer, The Missoulian BILLINGS – Sugar beet growers in Montana say they’re having a sweet season. Profits are at a 28-year high – with prices nearing $50 a ton – thanks in part to a world sugar shortage. Mike Hoffer with Western Sugar Cooperative says farmers in the Billings area are seeing a [...]

By: Weekly Ag Staff Writer, AgWeekly Idaho’s 2009 sugarbeet production is forecast to be 5.56 million tons, unchanged from the August forecast, but up 54 percent from a year ago. Yield of 34.1 tons per acre is up from 2008′s 31.2 tons per acre. Harvested acreage is expected to total 163,000 acres, up 47,000 acres [...]

By: Staff Writer, [L=http://www.greatfallstribune.com/[The Great Falls Tribune[EL] The Western Sugar Cooperative expects to process more than 800,000 sugar beets this year. It has asked some southern Montana farmers to harvest early, and some farmers have started harvesting three weeks ahead of schedule. Western Sugar wants to finish processing by Feb. 15, and with the large [...]

By: Brad Devereaux, [L=http://lovellchronicle.com/[The Lovell Chronicle[EL] With the start of the sugar beet harvest about a week away, farmers are readying their crop and employees of the Western Sugar Factory in Lovell are finishing up maintenance projects and preparing for campaign. 2009 is shaping up to be a great year for sugar in the Lovell [...]

By: Tom Lutey, [L=http://billingsgazette.com/[The Billings Gazette[EL] With profits at a 28-year high and a bumper crop in the ground, Montana’s sugar industry expects sweet profits as other commodity prices sour. Sugar beets began coming out of the ground last week in Hardin. Prices are nearing $50 a ton, which Montana farmers haven’t received for their [...]