Beet History Comes Alive

The past came alive this fall for those interested in the rich history of sugarbeet production in western Nebraska and southeastern Wyoming. On the third weekend in September, the Farm and Ranch Museum at Gering, Neb., held its 13th annual Harvest Festival — and beets were the featured crop. About 2,000 people attended the event.

Visitors to the festival could see sugarbeets being cultivated, topped and lifted the old-fashioned way — with horses, hand labor and the early generations of mechanized equipment. They also were able to view an expansive array of old farm equipment, including beet drills, thinners, cultivators and lifters. Volunteers — several retired beet growers among them — explained the processes and equipment and participated in the field demonstration activities.

The Farm and Ranch Museum is located adjacent to Scotts Bluff National Monument. Founded in 1988, it is a locally funded, all-volunteer organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting the agricultural heritage of the High Plains. The 110-acre farm where the museum is located was purchased in 1997, and initial museum displays were developed. A new 12,000 square foot building was completed in the fall of 2001. Displays in this building have been developed to interpret regional agriculture, with a special emphasis on ranching and the livestock industry, conservation tillage and dryland farming, and irrigation. Highlighted crops include sugarbeets, potatoes, corn and small grains.

A visitors center addition to the museum’s exhibit building opened in February of 2008.