At least the paperwork is in order for a successful 2011 sugar beet campaign.
As the master agreement between growers and Lantic Sugar has been tweaked and quotas have been signed by producers, only one thing stands in the way — Mother Nature. Rain and snow fell fast and furious late last week to throw up yet another roadblock for those itching to get into the field and plant some sugar beets.
Rod Boras, president of the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers Marketing Board, noted an agreement on early-harvest incentive issues with Lantic helped contract talks come to a successful conclusion earlier this year, to help get the year off to a positive start. He added this is the third year of the master agreement, however, and the real work will be done as the 2011 campaign wraps up.
“We’ll start working on a new master agreement late this year and early into next year.”
But the news, on paper, looks good for 2011, as beet acres should be up.
That is, of course, unless the weather changes the minds of growers, who may see beets as too big of a risk if seeding gets delayed too far.
“We’re looking at a good 34,000-plus acres, unless guys decide it’s getting too late,” said Boras. “I hope they don’t decide to switch (to another crop), but it’s up to each individual producer.”
Seeding was late last year as well, which still translated into a 19-20 tonne crop in the end.
“It was late May last year for a lot of guys, but there were some beets in before the snow, and some were three to four weeks later,” said Boras, who noted later planting has downfalls. “You’re going to have decreased yields if you’re going into June, but that’s a producer decision.”
He added each grower will have to weigh what the input costs are going to be and what alternative crop they could grow, with the risk of waiting it out and planting beets when the weather finally decides to come around.
“How do you know what will bring you the best return?” he said of what will be the main question for many. “Every year is different. If you’re planting the end of May, if you have a good summer, the potential is still always there to produce a good crop.”
However, he conceded we have likely already lost the opportunity to put beets in the ground this month, which history has shown can be the best time to seed.
“The perfect scenario is probably by the end of April,” he said for seeding. “When we had those record crops, they were all in before May. That’s the perfect case, and we’ve achieved that a couple of times.”
Boras said before the recent rain and snow, producers were probably looking at being two weeks away from seeding. That timeline has obviously been pushed further back.
“We hope to be going full bore by the first week of May,” he said, and added no one is panicking yet. “If this was the middle of May, there would definitely be some concerns.”
Weather concerns languished throughout most of 2010 as well, but beet crops still persevered. Despite a wet, cool spring and a cooler-than-average summer, growers produced high-quality beets thanks to optimal harvest conditions and a long, cold winter that provided the plant with frozen beets throughout the processing campaign.
The usual freeze-and-thaw cycles that deteriorate beets in storage were not a problem last year.
“The quality of the crop was second to the best we’ve ever had, and I think that’s given guys some hope,” said Boras. “Sometimes, it just happens that way in cooler years. With hot, dry years, there’s not necessarily the highest-quality crops.”
That may put growers in a better state of mind for 2011, as will the fact sugar prices are remaining high. Those high prices have not made a difference to the bottom line for growers just yet, according to Boras, but the hope is that will change.
“That gives local producers a hope they can get a piece of that, and that’s something we will try and work into the next contract.”
Boras added sugar prices are better now than any time in the last 30 years, as he explained any glitches in production in high sugar-producing countries like Brazil and India can have a huge impact on world markets. He went on to say high sugar prices are key for the continued strength of the sugar beet industry here.
“I think producers are hopeful these levels are going to maintain themselves, because the other commodities are strong too.”
The board is also working on plans for diversification for beet growers,though Boras added nothing has been set in stone on that front as of yet.
And while there are positives on the horizon, the weather is the focus now.
Even though the snow and rain can be frustrating, Boras added it is better than the alternative — drought.
“We’ve seen these kinds of conditions before. Moisture is always good as opposed to it being like a dustbowl.”