Sugar beet harvest looks promising

POWELL (WNE) — Sugar beets will have a little more time in the ground to finish a promising crop.

The scheduled start of the early 2026 harvest in the Lovell factory district of Western Sugar Cooperative is Sept. 28, “or maybe sooner depending on the weather,” said Ric Rodriguez, Heart Mountain grower and member of the four-state cooperative board.

Growers have been advised of the later than usual start date, he said.

“That gives the beets a little more time to grow,” he added.

The factory will start slicing beets and making sugar on Sept. 29.

Heart Mountain receiving station will take deliveries for four or five days, then the district goes into regular harvest on Oct. 4, and all receiving stations open up.

“If we got a cool stretch and it looks like it will stay cooler, we have the ability to cancel the early harvest and start the general harvest and open up all receiving stations,” Rodriguez said.

Right now the weather looks favorable heading into the early harvest, he said.

“Quality is really good right now,” Rodriguez summarized. “Sugars look good; it should be a good crop.”

The Lovell district is projecting a crop averaging about 27.5 tons of beets per acre. The 10-year average yield for the Lovell district is 28.5 tons per acre.

Sugar content in 2026 beets is forecast to average 18.75%. That’s about a normal sugar content, Rodriguez said.

Another measure rendered by field sampling is crop purity. That’s a measure of highly concentrated sugar. The last sample of the 2026 crop in August showed the purity at 89.1%, the highest purity in the last 10 years, Rodriguez noted