Why the Beet Sugar Processing
Sector Is So Concerned

This chart compares the levels of annual greenhouse gas emissions (as of 2007) that come from various industries, including sugarbeet processing. The beet sugar sector — at 4.3 million metric tons of CO2 — is very minor compared to the other noted industries, both “covered” and “not covered.”
Results from Year One of Idaho Strip-Tillage Study
By Amber Moore, Don Morishita & Oliver Neher*
The introduction of strip tillage to sugarbeet production in southern Idaho has brought challenges as well as opportunities to local beet growers. One challenge is accounting for chaff (residue) trails left behind by combines. These trails create uneven distribution of residue throughout the field, which can be a challenge for ensuing crop production with strip tillage.
Specifically, growers are concerned that the areas with little residue will be droughty and more susceptible to weed growth, while areas with heavy residue coverage may have more fertilizer and herbicide binding in the residue — and more soil-borne disease pressure under a cooler, more-moist and higher-carbon soil environment.
ASA Economist Provides Analysis of Past Year for
U.S. & World Markets - And What May Lie Ahead

Editor’s Note: Jack Roney is having fun these days. After two decades as a sugar industry economist, “I finally get to defend a price recovery,” he radiates. “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for in my career!”
The past year has been an exciting one in sugar markets, as world prices have risen to a three-decade high and U.S. sugar prices have also risen dramatically. What factors precipitated this price rise — and what is the prognosis for the remainder of the current marketing year and beyond?