30 Years Ago: Excerpts from the March 1981 Issue of The Sugarbeet Grower

    Consumer Support for Comprehensive Sugar Policy Urged By Growers -- “At the annual meeting of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association held in Tucson, February 2-6, Executive Vice President Richard Blake urged adoption of a policy that would provide U.S. consumers with a dependable supply of sugar at fair and stable prices. . . . According to Blake, since 1974 the U.S. has continued to move toward greater reliance on sugar exporting countries whose collective ability to supply domestic needs is neither constant nor predictable.

    “ ‘Since the expiration of our last sugar program seven years ago, consumers have been bearing the brunt of the havoc created by feast or famine sugar prices,’ asserted Blake. 
    “Delegates at the meeting represented sugarbeet growers in 16 states who produce about 30 percent of the total U.S. annual [sugar] consumption.”

    Use of Corn for Fuel Alcohol: An Optimistic Future — “As much as 1 billion bushels of U.S. corn could be channeled into fuel alcohol production by 1987, according to Martin Andreas, president of ADM foods division of Archer Daniels Midland.  That corn would be used to produce 2.5 billion gallons of fuel alcohol, Andreas told the first International Colloquium on World Sweetener Policies for the 1980s.
    “The outlook for fuel alcohol from corn appears encouraging, but participants were less enthusiastic about producing alcohol from sugar.  William Riddle, senior research scientist from the Battelle Memorial Institute, predicted that sugar will never be a feasible fuel source in the U.S. because sugar prices would have to drop to 10 to 11 cents a pound before such production would be profitable.  However, [he] noted, as oil prices increase, minimum sugar prices also increase.”

    Electrical Energy Proves Effective in Weed Control -- “A new agricultural product, designed to electrically kill broadleaf annual weeds that infest crop fields, is now being marketed. . . . The product is a tractor three-point hitch mounted electrical discharge system (EDS), which develops 50 kilowatts of electrical power and is driven by the power takeoff (PTO) from the tractor. . . . Developed by Lasco, Inc., of Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Lightning Weeder has been field tested by university teams for both economics and effectiveness. . . .
    “The market testing was done in the Red River Valley sector of eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota.  In this market area, the Lasco weeder has proved especially suitable for weeding sugarbeets and controlling volunteer sunflowers in soybeans and other crops.”