American Crystal Crop Update with Tyler Grove

News and Notes from American Crystal General Agronomist, Tyler Grove

Pre-Pile:
Pre-pile has gone well. We are in our third week. The first two weeks were dry so we stayed with our calendar really well, which is abnormal for us. Now, this week we have some new challenges with the rainfall, which was very welcomed.

Sugar Content:
Sugar content remains high at about 17.8%. That’s really high and that’s showing that the beets are a little on the dry side. We really did need that moisture, but the rain events will mess up our schedule a little bit this week.

Tonnage:
Tonnage is tracking well. We’ve been missing this rain so we know it could end up where we want it to. Our estimates have not changed. Our ag staff estimate is at 30.8 tons/acre. We are going to hold that course until we see things change otherwise.

Hail Damage:
The hail damage in the Moorhead district over the weekend wasn’t widespread, but where it hit was pretty severe. We had about 2,800 acres that were damaged. That hail takes all of your leaves… all of your solar panels...  right off the plant. It’s really a bad time of year for that to happen.

How Hail Damage Effects Sugar Content:
The beet wants to repair its solar panels so it pulls sugar reserves from the root as building materials. The sugar content will start dropping as the beet begins to put on new leaves.

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