With millions of dollars on the line for farmers and Main Streets alike, sugar processors are struggling to refine as many frost-damaged beets as possible before weather again turns ugly.

Speaking with Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday, members of the Western Sugar Cooperative said they’re racing to process at least 80 percent of their sugar beet crop, though time is wearing on beets clobbered by an early freeze six weeks ago.

Ten counties, including four where sugar beets are grown, have asked the governor to seek federal disaster relief for the four-day statewide freeze in early October. That number could rise to 16 as weather and spoilage force unharvested crops to be written off. The counties that were earliest to seek disaster relief have reported high losses. Rosebud County officials estimated sugar beet losses as high as 50 percent.

With an 80 percent harvest, cooperative members are looking at leaving roughly $5 million in the field. That’s $5 million net after crop insurance kicks in covering half the loss, growers said. In Wyoming, losses are estimated as much as $12 million.

Cooperative members presented the Montana damage to Schweitzer in pictures portraying beets that a few weeks ago were slightly translucent from being frozen but are now gray and weepy with damage. Growers tied to the Billings refinery produce 25,000 acres of beets annually. Revenue lost to damaged acres was conservatively estimated at $1,000 per acre, but as high as $1,800.

 “That $5 million loss isn’t just the farmers’,” Schweitzer said. “That money disappears on Main Street, too.”

Real dollar consequences are already occurring. Beets are stored outside in piles in communities along the Yellowstone River from Park City to Sidney. When the weather is cool and the beets aren’t damaged, the crop can pile well for weeks until the sugar refinery in Billings is ready for another load.

But damaged beets have a bad apple effect on the piles, causing rot. Wary cooperative managers have shut piles down for days at a time attempting to manage spoilage. Closed piles sap the demand for seasonal workers, who normally earn several thousand dollars in a few short weeks.

At the refinery, where beets are turned to sugar normally through mid-February, there’s already talk of finishing shortly after the New Year’s Day, another loss for Billings wage earners.

Good weather could dispel many of the losses forecasted. Since the early October freeze, farmers have had dry, cool conditions on their side, with the capacity at the refinery being the main determinant for when beets are dug.

Before the freeze, farmers were about to harvest a record crop. Crystal sugar prices are at a 30-year high. Farmers say even with the frozen damage, this year’s crop could still rival last year’s, which was harvested under better terms. And the price for sugar is still high, because of global demand.

“We’re just fortunate right now because there’s a shortage of sugar,” said Ervin Schlemmer, who farms beets north of Fromberg.

 

Contact Tom Lutey attlutey@billingsgazette.com or 657-1288.