Above Average Sugar Beet Harvest For Oregon/Idaho Farmers

By Ethan Lindsey | Oct. 23, 2008 3:27 p.m. | Updated: June 17, 2010 12:01 a.m. | Bend, OR

Farmers and processors in eastern Oregon and Idaho are feeling a little bit sweet these days.That’s because October is the heart of the sugar beet harvest season. And as they pick their crops, farmers say this season will be average to above-average.Sugar beets are a major crop in Nyssa, Ontario and Vale.John Schorr is the director of agriculture for the Amalgamated Sugar Company, one of the largest sugar producers in the United States. Schorr: "Its kinda grey on the outside, it weighs about 2-3 pounds. Wide and the top, narrow at the bottom, like you’d expect a good-sized beet, and it’s white inside. If you cut it open, and taste it, it has a sweet taste to it."Twenty-five thousand acres of sugar beets were planted in the Nyssa and Nampa, Idaho, regions this year.Schorr says even though this year’s beets look pretty good, the season won’t set any records.High commodity prices pushed Oregon farmers to plant more wheat and other crops this year, instead.By next year, Oregon’s sugar will end up in everything from jelly, to candy, to baked goods.

© 2008 OPB

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