Sugar beet harvest starting
The southern Alberta sugar beet harvest is now underway. More than 26,000 acres of sugar beets will be harvested from across Southern Alberta in the coming weeks, with more than 780,000 tonnes of beets expected to be delivered to Roger’s Sugar in Taber for processing and refinement — an estimated 100,000 tonnes of sugar.
Alberta Sugar Beet Growers President Arnie Bergen-Henengouwen said while the normal sugar beet harvest begins at the beginning of October, a recent snowstorm caused a delay.
“We’re a week to 10 days behind,” he said.
“(But) As long as the weather holds out, we’re OK.”
He said while it is early in the harvest, the initial results on the quality of the beets are “really good.”
“We’re looking forward to getting some really good harvesting weather in the next couple weeks,” he said. “We need three good weeks without any more moisture and relatively moderate temperatures.”
Sugar beets need to be dug and delivered to the piling grounds with as little mud and debris attached to them as possible for better longterm storage and processing. The beets are stored outside and monitored for heat and spoilage, and are moved to the factory as needed. Typically, the beets will be processed by mid-February.
Incumbent M.D. of Taber Reeve Brian Brewin said the sugar beet industry has long roots in southern Alberta and Taber in particular.
“It’s an important industry that’s been here,” he said.
“We have hundreds of acres produced, and it is a high value crop. The input toward the entire municipalities and nearby towns is huge.”
In particular, the sugar beet industry ties the Town of Taber to the M.D., as the factory where the beets are processed is located within the town, while the beets are grown in the surrounding M.D.
“It’s a good tie between the two municipalities,” he said. “It’s a win-win for everybody.” Brewin said this year’s dry summer showed the importance of irrigation to the region. “Without irrigation, we don’t have these specialty crops,” he said. “This year highlighted it so much. It was a long, hot, dry summer.
Bergen-Henengouwen said many growing areas in the region saw fewer than two inches of rain for the growing season.
Sugar beet crops typically require about 16 inches of water.
“That shortfall had to be made up by irrigation,” he said.
ASBG would like to remind local residents to be mindful of the harvest underway, which will be going around the clock in some areas.
This means roads will see increased traffic from beat trucks — particularly in areas where piling grounds are located, such as Enchant, Picture Butte, Coaldale, Tempest, Taber, Vauxhall, and Burdett/Bow Island.