The Sugarbeet Grower Magazine Nov-Dec2012

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‘Serving The Nation’s Sugarbeet Community Since 1963’ Volume 51 Number 6 November/December 2012

Page 18

Sugar Publications 4601 16th Ave. N. Fargo, ND 58102 Phone: (701) 476-2111 Fax: (701) 476-2182 E-Mail: sugar@forumprinting.com Web Site: www.sugarpub.com Publisher: Sugar Publications General Manager & Editor: Don Lilleboe Advertising Manager: Heidi Wieland (701) 476-2003 Graphics: Forum Communications Printing

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Page 4

— Feature Articles — A Love of Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Idaho grower and Snake River Chairman Duane Grant

Through the Chairman’s Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Duane Grant visits about the co-op he leads

Al Bloomquist: A Tribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Late industry leader also founded The Sugarbeet Grower

No-Till Sugarbeets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 It’s a rarity, but trio of Montana growers makes it work

— Regular Pages —

— Front Cover —

Dateline: Washington . . . . . . . . . . 12 Election recap & ‘Lame Duck’ agenda

An autumn 2012 predawn scene at the American Crystal Sugar Co. piling station near Glyndon, Minn.

Write Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Photo: Don Lilleboe

A Wet One

Around the Industry . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Who, what & where it’s happening

www.sugarpub.com THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

Correction: The site of the July/August cover photo was labeled incorrectly. The photo was actually taken on the Jim Baker farm near Sabin, Minn.

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A Love of Farming Idaho’s Duane Grant Keen Interest in Technology, Strong Business Sense & Passion for Ag Drive Snake River Sugar’s Chairman

Duane Grant (right) emphasizes that he couldn’t have asked for a better mentor to help lay the groundwork for his own farming career than his father, Douglas (left). ic Jaro, Amalgamated Sugar Company’s president and CEO, uses these phrases in describing the way Duane Grant approaches his role as chairman of Snake River Sugar Company, the grower cooperative that owns the Amalgamated Sugar Company: “strategic leadership” . . . “thoughtful and careful analysis” . . . “a leadership style that promotes careful and critical decision-making — and that takes advantage of the diverse talents and experience of the members of the board.”

Those are apt terms, descriptive of a farmer/businessman whose soft-spoken, considerate demeanor co-exists with a “push-the-envelope” progressive attitude toward not only his own farm’s growth, but also that of the cooperative he leads. “I love farming,” affirms the 52-year-old south central Idaho producer. “Every day we get up, and it’s a new challenge with new opportunities.

And, you get to work with good people.

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“I don’t know [another] industry in which you could cover the spectrum like you do in agriculture. You can be a scientist if you want, a salesman if you want, a financial analyst. At different times of the day, you have to be all those things. It’s a great occupation!”

That sort of enthusiasm has propelled Grant since he began farming full time back in 1980. Since then, the operation he heads — Grant 4-D Farms — has grown 50-fold. It is active throughout a 40-mile radius of the home farm near Rupert — plus running a couple more farms 160 miles distant from each other. Grant 4-D Farms produces sugarbeets, potatoes, seed potatoes, wheat, malt barley, corn and hay, mainly on irrigated acreage.

It also has an interest in a large dairy.

During potato harvest, they employ up to 250 people; on a year-round basis, the operation has about 70 employees.

Sugarbeets constitute 25% of the crop

acreage base, and potatoes comprise another 25%.

That journey of accomplishment really began in 1958 — two years before Duane was born — when his father, Douglas, moved from a central California cattle and sheep ranch to the scrub-brush desert of southern Idaho’s Minidoka County. He arrived with $5,000 and a single small truck.

“There previously had been a few cowboys here grazing cattle; but otherwise, it was basically ‘frontier,’ ” his son relates. “When they arrived, they first had to cut the brush, roll it into long windrows and burn it. Then they picked rock and did some leveling.”

Initial irrigation efforts on the new Grant family farm — furrow, in those days — faced formidable obstacles. “It turned out our ground was just too sandy,” Duane explains. “You couldn’t get water to run from the top of the field to the bottom. When it went on the top, it would leach out all the fertilizer. The bottom of the field wouldn’t get any water, so it would dry out, burn up and blow away.

“So it was a disaster for a decade, really, until sprinkler irrigation was more perfected and became effective enough to be installed and used.”

Two technologies — mechanization, led by modern tractors, and sprinkler irrigation, allowing for accurate placement of water on sandy soils — “turned the corner for them,” Duane continues.

“Then ground that had been marginal at best became very productive, and they started making money. Of course, the price of grain in the early ’70s helped, too,” he smilingly adds.

Duane began his owning farming career shortly after high school. The idea for the “4-D” name came from his mother, Clarice. “I have two brothers, and it was my parents’ dream, when we put the partnership together in 1980, that all of the kids would be involved,” he recalls. His father’s and brothers’ names also began with “D,” hence “4-D Farms.” Neither brother ended up pursuing a career in agriculture; but the name stuck. (“Now we call it ‘Deeper, Deeper & Deeper in Debt,’ ” Duane jokes.)

While Grant 4-D Farms has expanded greatly under his leadership, Duane gives much credit to his father, who remains keenly interested in the operation’s strategies and day-to-day activities. “I owe him,” he affirms. “He carved off a part of the operation and let me be responsible for it — including the ‘making mistakes’ part. He kept his eyes open and would speak up if he saw us veering too far off track. But if

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we were just a little off track, he’d let us take our lumps and back us.

“You never really learn unless you have times when things go wrong. He allowed them to go wrong — and then he helped.” t’s apparent Duane Grant’s leadership strengths have encompassed numerous areas — both in and out of the sugar sector. Among his many past and present credentials are these: • Board member of Snake River Sugar Company since 2003 and chairman of the cooperative since 2009.

• Grower spokesperson for the Sugar Industry Biotechnology Council since 2007.

• Member of the USDA Advisory Committee on Biotechnology & 21st Century Agriculture (five years).

• Pew Foundation Initiative for Food & Biotechnology (four-year stakeholder).

• Past president of the Idaho Grain Producers.

• Past chairman of several National Association of Wheat Growers committees, including 10 years as chair of the NAWG Research Committee.

• The 2003 Eisenhower Agriculture Fellow.

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‘I’d been raising sugarbeets my whole life, and it was obvious: If there was any technology we could use in sugarbeets, that was it.’

That’s an impressive list — and only a partial one. But Grant has no need for or interest in touting his resume. Rather, he views all these functions simply as natural extensions of his deep passion for agriculture and his desire to constantly move it forward.

His extensive history with biotechnology — and specifically the route of Roundup Ready® Sugarbeet technology — provides a good example.

“Back in the late 1980s, I was involved with the National Association of Wheat Growers, and we were all concerned about herbicides,” he recounts.

“That was during the Delaney Clause period, and we were actively lobbying both Congress and regulators, trying to keep access to those chemistries that we needed.

“As a tangent of that, I had the opportunity to go with a group of wheat growers down to St. Louis and tour

Monsanto’s research facilities. This was before ‘Roundup Ready anything,’ and I knew nothing about biotech.

While touring their very impressive facility, they took us into the biotech area and gave us a thumbnail of what biotech was all about. We asked the Monsanto scientists, ‘So what have you done with this?’ “ ‘Well, we’ve taken this tomato plant and made it so you could spray it with Roundup — and it doesn’t hurt the plant.’

“I was like, ‘You’re kidding me!’

The next thing I said was, ‘Can you do this in sugarbeets?’ And they’re like, ‘What are sugarbeets?’ They were looking toward soybeans and corn. But I’d been raising sugarbeets my whole life, and it was obvious: If there was any technology we could use in sugarbeets, that was it. So that was the ‘aha moment’ for me.”

A couple decades would pass, of course, before Roundup Ready sugarbeets became a reality for beet growers around the country. Grant remained keenly interested in the technology during the interim, though, and an enthusiastic advocate for its development and commercialization. Numerous field trials testing transgenic beets

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

The management group for Grant 4-D Farms includes, left to right: Mike Larson, manager-agronomy; Duane Grant, partner; Kenyon Miller, manager- construction; Ignacio Cruz, manager-operations; Isreal Robles, director-irrigation; Kalvin Miller, partner; Ryan Miller, director-electrical; and Alan Mohlman, director-agronomy. were conducted on his farm, and he became deeply involved with USDA’s advisory committee on biotechnology as well as, later on, the Sugar Industry Biotechnology Council.

Part of Grant’s intense interest in transgenic beets definitely stemmed from his own farm’s experiences with the “traditional regimen” of herbicide products and application timing and

methods. “It was a nightmare,” he recalls of those pre-Roundup days. “We had failures all the time — fields that would become unharvestable because of our failure to control weeds. We had an army of people applying herbicides around the clock or just at night. We did micro-rates, we did maxi-rates, you name it.”

During the 1990s and early 2000s, 4-D Farms was raising about 4,000 acres of sugarbeets. “We had one sprayer for every 500 acres, so eight sprayers running around,” Grant relates. “We’d break them up into two groups. Each group had its own mechanic and own supervisor who managed the rates — and then the four sprayer operators. They would work whenever they could. It might be all night long; it might be 24 hours straight because they had a window.

“It was a horrible life. Just last spring (of 2011), as the Roundup litigation was progressing through the courts and it was unclear whether we’d be able to plant Roundup Ready seed, my sugarbeet manager flat-out told me, ‘If we have to be conventional again, I’m quitting. I can’t do it.’

“I’m so glad we got to plant Roundup Ready beets!” hile Roundup Ready has been a huge advancement, improved seed technology in general — including trait stacking — has also helped sugarbeet growers tremendously, Grant emphasizes. “On our own farm, 10 years ago the yield was in the low- to mid-20tons-per-acre range with about 17.5% sugar,” he notes. “Today, we’re averaging in the low 30s with 17.5 sugar. So we added a third in gross yield on a per-acre basis in 10 years. That is just phenomenal!

“Part of it is Roundup Ready. But a big part also is that the quality of this seed, the germplasm, is much better than it was in the ’90s. It’s an entire universe removed from what it was when I started in beets in the late ’70s, early ’80s. And they’re really just getting started. That is what’s so exciting to me.”

Irrigation technology is another area that has contributed substantially to his farm’s sugarbeet success story, affirms Amalgamated’s board chairman. “We’re pretty scattered (geographically),” he points out. “We have on-site managers to control all our center pivots; but all those pivots are equipped with radios, and I can see at any time what any pivot is doing and track its water application for the season.” Lots of growers access their irri-

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

gation components via laptops, he points out — “and younger guys who are more ‘techy’ are accessing it through their smartphones.

“Information management is what it’s all about, and those types of technologies let us achieve that.”

Because of the area’s topography and the original surface irrigation layout designs, quite a few fields in southern Idaho historically have not lent themselves to center-pivot irrigation.

“Those still have wheel-line and, in some cases, hand-line irrigation systems,” Grant notes. “But pivot irrigation is by far the most efficient way to go.” It also is a big driver in the sale or rental of cropland. “If it’s irrigated with center pivots, it’s worth $50 to $75 an acre more to us than if it’s irrigated with wheel lines,” he says. “In a rental scenario, we simply won’t rent handline ground unless it’s incidental to the renting of a larger piece.” Labor is a key reason why. “It’s very expensive (labor-wise), and it’s problematic. The only folks you can get who are willing to do that kind of work tend to have ‘creative documentation.’ We just don’t want to go there.”

Precision agriculture — e.g., variable-rate fertilization and even variable-rate seeding — also has found a place on many sugarbeet farms over the past couple decades. At Grant 4-D Farms, however, it has a zig-zag track record.

“We were probably among the first experimenters/adopters in this area with some parts of precision agriculture — specifically, yield mapping and fertilizer placement,” Duane says. “We got into that in a pretty big way in the early ’90s, mapping by soil type and also doing some grid sampling. But we later moved away from that because the economic benefit didn’t justify the cost. So then we fell back from grid sampling to soil-type topography, driven at that time by Soil Conservation Service maps overlaid with aerial imagery to give us color differentiation.

We then applied variable-rate fertilizer technology to that.”

After several seasons using that approach (supplemented with infrared images of the crops during the growing season), the Grant 4-D Farms management team sat down and discussed whether it was providing adequate data for making better management decisions. “After we evaluated it all, we decided, ‘No, it’s not,’ ” Duane remembers. “ ‘The cost is high, our yield has not improved significantly, and our nets have gone down.’ So we moved away from it and went back to broad-

Through the Chairman’s Eyes ‘We must continuously make investment decisions that will enhance both the amount and stability of return to our members.’ hedge the weather risk,” he states. uane Grant is Snake River Given the nature of commodity Sugar Company’s second chairmarkets, “the cooperative must alman, succeeding Terry Ketterling of ways be cognizant of the relative Mountain Home, Idaho, who served competitiveness of beets as comin that capacity from 1996 (the year pared to other crops,” Grant stresses.

SRSC was established) until 2009.

“We must continuously make investGrant joined the SRSC board in ment decisions that will enhance 2003, so he had an inside familiarity with the cooperative’s workings prior both the amount and stability of return to our members.” to taking over the chairmanship.

Every sugar company emphaStill, he admits to seeing some sizes that goal, of course — but things in a new light since becoming there’s one reason why Snake chairman.

River/Amalgamated’s leadership per“There are a tremendous number haps feels the pressure even more. of opportunities available to the coUnlike in the nation’s other sugaroperative by virtue of our position in beet cooperatives, SRSC shareholdthe sugar industry,” he exemplifies. ers can surrender and “American Crystal is obviwalk away from their ously the largest player, shares with no penalty. but we’re second largest.

“We are comfortable with So we are in the game. this structure, but it reAnd as the industry moves quires the cooperative to forward and adapts to difdeliver returns and sustain ferent market situations, a vision for the future that different supply/demand entices members to remain situations, there are opporcommitted beet growers,” tunities that can be advanDuane Grant Grant points out. tageous to our members. I “The ability to forfeit also serves think that’s been the biggest surto keep the cooperative very sensiprise to me as chairman: Those do tive to the quality of the interface become up, and you have to respond — tween our members and the either saying, ‘No, we’re not intercooperative,” he adds. “For example, ested,’ or ‘Yes, let’s develop it and the cooperative is investing heavily take it to the board.’ Sugar is ubiqto minimize receiving station lines to uitous, and a lot of customers are inthe maximum extent possible so that terested in exploring how they can our members’ investment in harvestdevelop relations with the sugar ining equipment is efficiently utilized.” dustry that could provide opportuniThe Amalgamated growing reties to both sides.” gion is not homogeneous, its chairOne of the biggest movements by man points out — and that reality SRSC/Amalgamated in recent years can be simultaneously beneficial and was the 2011 establishment of Nachallenging. There are three unique tional Sugar Marketing LLC, a joint venture with cane sugar partner Suc- areas: the Upper Valley (eastern Idaho), at an elevation of around den Americas Corporation, based in 4,500 feet; the Magic Valley (south Florida. “It’s working very well, and central Idaho), at about 3,500 feet; we think it’s the right model for us and the Treasure Valley (western for the foreseeable future,” Grant Idaho and eastern Oregon), whose says of the co-op’s new marketing elevation is around 2,500 feet. “This arm. While Amalgamated previously provides opportunity to mitigate risk sold sugar on a national scale, “there through distinctly different weather were some areas of the country patterns,” Grant says. “But it also where our presence was minimal” — the East Coast being a good example. serves to raise costs, as the cultural practices — seed, equipment, irrigaNational Sugar Marketing “gives us tion methods, etc. — are very differa nice tie to both supply sectors — ent across the spectrum and cannot beet and cane — and a more-stable be easily mass-replicated.” ❖ supply as well, since we can better

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

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cast application.”

Grant doesn’t discount the value of variable-rate applications for many growers, but he believes in his own farm’s case, “it could be that we don’t have enough variability in our soils to justify it. We’ll continue to evaluate it, but we haven’t yet seen where the technology is coming down enough in price to where we can justify shifting back.”

The quantum leap in on-farm technology has also played out in the use of GPS — as it has on so many other farms. “All our tractors are GPSguided,” Grant relates. “That’s been a

huge improvement — much more efficient use of tractor and man hours.

We’re sold on GPS guidance for tillage, for planting. We’re not yet using it for harvest, but we like the technology.

“But it’s also expensive. And it’s changed the kind of people we need to have. Some of our tractor operators don’t need to have many skills; they basically just have to be able to sit in the tractor and put the clutch in if something bad happens. And then we have another tier of people who need to be really tech savvy, able to understand the GPS technology, able to reboot,

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reset, reprogram the systems.”

Residue management — facilitated by the Roundup Ready production system — has been another key area of change on Grant 4-D Farms in recent years. “In sugarbeets especially, Roundup Ready technology has been revolutionary for us. That’s a strong word, but it’s accurate in this case,” Duane states. “We are able to consistently grow a profitable crop on every soil type that we have. Under the ‘old’ system, we weren’t consistent on any soil type, and there were some soils on which we simply couldn’t grow sugarbeets because they were either too tight — such as some clays where we couldn’t get the water to infiltrate with the cultivation we had to do — or they were too sandy, and spring wind erosion would take out the beets.”

Now, on the heavier clay soils, “we’re leaving the residue on top of the ground, keeping the cultivator tractor out, doing just one pass in the spring with the strip-till unit, and then planting.” The transition to strip till is ongoing, however. “It’s been a learning curve,” Grant admits. “Residue management is the huge challenge for us.

It’s a different system — and different for every soil type.

“We thought, for example, that in sandy ground, leaving all the residue standing was the best way to go, that theoretically it wouldn’t blow — and it didn’t.” The downside to the standing stubble, though, was that it kept the soil colder longer into the spring. “It didn’t blow, but all of the strip-till plots froze out the first couple years. We replanted, and they were our worst yields.”

Bottom line, “we’ve learned we have to knock down that residue,” Grant continues. “If the residue is fairly light, we go across with a McFarlane harrow and then strip till into that.

The sun can get onto that ground, warm it up. We had to get away from that ‘shade effect.’

“If the residue is heavy — like that from a 170- or 180-bushel grain crop — we’ll go in with a DMI disk ripper.

Then we’ll go in and strip till, pulling the mulch away from the seeding zone.

That works really well.”

Grant remains a believer in the strip-till approach; it’s just a matter of modifying the system to fit individual field conditions. “Behind silage corn, strip till is beautiful. And if we bale off the straw and it’s sandy ground, we’ll just strip till into that. But if we leave the straw there or it’s a high-residue situation, we need to do something else.” — Don Lilleboe ❖

THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

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COMMON GROUND

Good Things Come from Common Ground

Dateline: Washington — 2012 Elections — President: More than 120.8 million Americans voted for President in this election. With respect to the popular vote, President Obama received only 3.3 million votes (2.7%) more than Romney, which showed once again how divided our nation is when choosing its leader. What surprises many people is that of the 538 electoral votes, the President received 332 votes (62%) vs. Romney’s 206 votes (38%).

What is also interesting is the number of counties that were carried

by Obama and Romney. There are 3,033 counties in the U.S. The President won in fewer than 750 (24.7%) and Romney won more than 2,283 counties (75.3%). The bottom line is that land does not vote — people do.

Democrats prevailed in the urban areas in key states.

While his win is a result of a brilliant campaign strategy, the President knows that he must lead a politically divided nation.

There are various benefits to an incumbent being re-elected. Months are saved from one administration transitioning to another, and it allows them to focus on the pressing issues faced by our nation. While new cabinet members will be replaced and new priorities set, it comes with much less disruption than a change in presidents.

For the record, the USDA (sugar program administration, biotechnology, crop insurance, etc.) and the Trade Representative’s office have worked extremely well with our industry over the last four years, and we look forward to working with them over the next four years.

Senate: The Democrats and two

12

By Luther Markwart

Independents picked up Indiana and Massachusetts, making it 55D-45R. We expect Chairwoman Stabenow from Michigan and Ranking Member Roberts from Kansas to continue to lead the Senate Agriculture Committee. We are waiting to see who will fill the committee positions vacated

by Senators Conrad (ND), Nelson (NE) and Lugar (IN).

House: As of this writing, there are at least 85 new members of the House, with six races still being recounted or contested. It was always clear that Republicans would continue to control the House by relatively the same margin. The House Agriculture Committee has lost at least six members who are leaving Congress, and we will see if any other members leave to take other committee assignments. If the farm bill slips into next year, we will have approximately 200 members who have never voted on a farm bill. There is a great deal of work to do in 2013.

— Lame Duck Agenda — Congress reconvened during the week of November 12 to reorganize and lay out the agenda for the remainder of 2012. The issues surrounding the “fiscal cliff” (automatic tax increases and spending cuts) and what our leaders do — or fail to do — will have the focus of the nation and the world.

For months, we have been looking at various scenarios for passing a five-year farm bill. There are multiple ways to accomplish it, but until House leadership decides to move forward on the “fiscal cliff” issue, no probability can be assigned to getting it done this year, and it would then be extended and dealt with next year.

Executive Vice President American Sugarbeet Growers Assn.

— Huge Sugarbeet Crop — Despite the drought, we are looking at a great crop this year. As we wrap up, harvest estimates are that we will see a 34-million ton beet crop.

This, along with a good cane crop and larger production, enters a North American market that is oversupplied, and we will be carrying the highest level of stocks since 1999/ 2000. World sugar production is up, stocks are building, and prices are falling dramatically.

With the North American market awash in sugar under the current policy, the arguments by sugar users against our policy have collapsed. As we know, it’s easy to add sugar to a tight market, but it takes a long time to bring an oversupplied market back into balance.

2013 ASGA — Annual Meeting — Grower leaders from across the country will gather to get the latest information on what the election means for the future of U.S. agriculture and sugar policy. The legislative agenda, politics and priorities in the 113th Congress; the operation of sugar policy under the 2008 farm bill and the provisions of the 2012 farm bill; biotechnology; an update on the U.S.-Mexico sugar market, and other topics will take center stage at the annual meeting in San Diego on February 3-5. It is a meeting that no grower or industry supplier should miss. You can see the program, register for the meeting and make hotel reservations online at www.americansugarbeet.org. If you need other information, call the ASGA office at (202) 833-2398. ❖

THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

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Recent Sugar Prices & the No-Cost Policy ASA Says Falling Prices of Late Should Help Underscore How the Program Has Worked for Consumers .S. raw sugar prices continued their recent free-fall, dropping another 9% in October, according to USDA data. The October 2012 average price was nearly 40% lower than October 2011 prices.

And with sugar surpluses building and sustained low prices on the horizon, industrial sugar users have lost a key talking point in their lobbying campaign to dismantle U.S. sugar production, according to the American Sugar Alliance (ASA).

“The ‘Big Candy’ lobby has complained of high sugar prices on Capitol Hill for months despite their own increasing profits,” said Ryan Weston, ASA chairman, in early November. “Now they have big profits, cheap sugar and a rosy outlook for the future, so lawmakers will be much less receptive to their poormouthing.”

Raw sugar prices dipped as low as 21.5 cents per pound during October. With 1.7 million tons of surplus overhanging the market, a strong domestic crop and subsidized foreign ‘Our policy doesn’t cost sugar still flowing in under a myriad of trade deals, cheap taxpayers a dime. It sugar is predicted for the forehelps counter subsidies seeable future. by foreign competitors Weston believes that sugar’s like Brazil . . . And it price reality as other commodities are enjoying record highs ensures consistent proves how well the current homegrown supplies sugar policy has worked for at consistent prices.’ consumers.

“Our policy doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime. It helps counter subsidies by foreign competitors like Brazil, which controls nearly half of the world dump market. And it ensures consistent homegrown supplies at consistent prices,” he explained.

October’s 21.5-cent low is remarkably similar to raw prices seen in past decades, ASA points out. Prices averaged 22.2 cents in the 1980s, 22.0 cents in the 1990s and 21.4 cents in the 2000s. More than half of all U.S. sugar-producing operations closed during that three-decade period.

Prices briefly increased in 2010 and 2011, allowing farmers to begin paying down years of accumulated debt, but have since fallen back to historic depressed levels. Unfortunately for sugar producers, the cost of labor, fuel, fertilizer and other inputs continue to climb, which is why sugar producers are fighting hard to keep a strong policy under the next farm bill.

Sugar’s biggest customers and critics — candy makers — have had more success. “Domestic consumption and production of candy are on the rise, as are candy prices – a situation that has helped confectioners achieve profit margins that are surprisingly higher than major oil companies and even casinos,” ASA noted in its early November statement ❖

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER (Upper Midwest) November/December 2012

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U.S. Beet Crop Sets Record USDA Places Output at Nearly 35 Million Tons, 6.1 Million Higher than 2011’s Production

U.S. Sugarbeet Production, Final 2011 & Initial 2012

California Colorado Idaho Michigan Minnesota Montana Nebraska North Dakota Oregon Wyoming United States

Area Harvested

Yield

(1,000 Acres)

(Tons/Ac.)

(1,000 Tons)

2011 2012 44.0 43.0 28.9 33.2 34.4 35.5 24.0 28.2 19.0 26.0 25.9 28.1 24.9 28.2 20.5 27.0 35.8 37.1 27.8 29.3 23.8 28.8

2011 2012 1,104 1,054 829 986 6,054 6,461 3,672 4,315 8,911 12,298 1,112 1,293 1,287 1,382 4,613 5,832 387 408 859 917 28,828 34,946

2011 25.1 28.7 176.0 153.0 469.0 43.0 51.6 225.0 10.8 30.9 1,213.1

2012 24.5 29.7 182.0 153.0 473.0 46.0 49.0 216.0 11.0 31.3 1,215.5

Production

Source: USDA-NASS November 2012

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t’s a record! That’s the bottom line from USDA’s initial estimate of 2012 U.S. sugarbeet production, released in mid-November. The estimate places this year’s crop at nearly 35 million tons — 34.95 million to be exact. That’s 6.1 million tons larger than the 2011 crop and almost 900,000 tons higher than the previous record, set in 2006.

At an estimated 12.3 million tons, Minnesota again led the way, rebounding in big fashion from its 2011 output of 8.9 million tons. Idaho growers harvested almost 6.5 million tons of beets this year, says USDA, followed by North Dakota at 5.8 million and Michigan at 4.3 million. California was the only state in which 2012 beet production was lower than in 2011.

Harvested area in 2012 was not much higher than that of the previous year, so the big story was in yield. This year’s estimated average yield nationwide was 28.8 tons per acre — 5.0 tons above the 2011 average.

USDA will release another estimate of 2012 U.S. beet production in January. There likely will be some revisions to the November numbers, since not all of the crop had been harvested as of the first of November in Michigan and the Red River Valley. ❖

I

THE SUGARBEET GROWER (Upper Midwest) November/December 2012

By the Numbers Economic Activity of Upper Midwest Sugarbeet Industry Totaled $4.9 Billion as of 2010

he very substantial value of the sugarbeet industry to Minnesota and eastern North Dakota was reaffirmed earlier this year when economists at North Dakota State University released results of their study of the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic contributions to the region.

Authored by Dean Bangsund, Nancy Hodur and F. Larry Leistritz, the study estimated the regional sugar industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total economic activity in 2010 (direct

T

and secondary impacts) at $4.9 billion. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Expenditures from processing and marketing activities and combined expenditures and net returns from sugarbeet production in the two-state region were estimated at $1.7 billion in fiscal 2011,â&#x20AC;? the study notes. Based on inputoutput analysis, that $1.7 billion generated another $3.2 billion in secondary impacts. As of that year, the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beet sector employed nearly 2,500 full-

time equivalent workers and, based on secondary business activity, supported an additional 18,800-plus full-timeequivalent jobs in the region.

The industry accounted for an estimated $1.8 billion in economy-wide personal income and $1.3 billion in annual retail sales in 2010. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Also, the sugarbeet industry generated about $105.4 million in sales and use, personal income and corporate income taxes, and paid $15.4 [million] in property taxes,â&#x20AC;? the authors wrote. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Total tax collections were $84.3 million in Minnesota and $36.5 million in North Dakota.â&#x20AC;?

Minnesota had the larger share of the regional industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gross business volume ($3.2 billion or 64%) with North Dakota having $1.7 billion.

The study covered the sugarbeet industry of the Red River Valley and west central Minnesota, which encompasses American Crystal Sugar Company, Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative and Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative. During fiscal 2011, these three companies combined planted nearly 653,000 acres of beets and processed 15.5 million tons of harvested beets. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For every dollar the sugarbeet industry spent in Minnesota and North Dakota, an additional $1.93 in business activity was generated within the regional economy,â&#x20AC;? the study authors reported. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Each acre of sugarbeets planted generated about $7,500 in total business activity (production, processing, marketing and secondary impacts); or, expressed alternatively, each ton of sugarbeets processed generated about $318 in total business activity.â&#x20AC;? â?&#x2013;

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Delivering Beets In the Early ’40s USDA Bulletin Discusses Methods, Challenges Editor’s Note: The science of postharvest sugarbeet management obviously has made major strides in recent decades.

Yet the “roots” of this advancement date back to the pre-World War II era, as evidenced by the following excerpt from a 1940 USDA Farmers’ Bulletin titled “Sugar-Beet Culture Under Irrigation in the Northern Great Plains.” The region referred to here consisted of Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota. auling the beets to the weigh station the same day that they are topped is commonly done. In former years it was not uncommon to see beets lying in the field after they were topped. The increased use of trucks has enabled growers to make more prompt delivery of the beets, and the receiving companies have learned that beets that have been left overnight in the fields are often noticeably damaged either by drying out or freezing.

Companies commonly store a portion of the roots in piles from 30 to 60 days before slicing them. Frozen or withered beets do not keep well in storage. In these districts, strict rules requiring that only fresh beets be delivered are now enforced. It is to the grower’s advantage that no frozen beets be delivered to the manufacturers, as the price paid for the beets is directly related to the amount of sugar made. Usu-

H

8v

ally some arrangement is made for direct processing of any loads that have been damaged after topping.

The drying-out of beets in the field is greater than is commonly recognized. During very moist weather, the loss in weight of beets lying in the pile rows may be fairly small, but in the northern Great Plains dry conditions and high winds predominate. The month of October does not normally have 1 inch of rainfall, and over 75 percent of the beets are harvested in October. In this area sugar-beet roots left out in the pile rows ordinarily lose 5 percent of their weight each 24 hours during normal October weather.

Covering the beets with tops greatly reduces this loss.

More weight is lost if the beets are in small piles than if the piles are large. Growers do not like to cover the beets with tops because of the labor involved in covering and uncovering the piles, and the beet-sugar companies object when too many leaves are included with the roots, because the presence of leaves frequently interferes with the slicing of the beets and is a factor causing increase of rotting in storage.

With the general acceptance of desirability of prompt delivery, growers, as a rule, now load all the beets the day they are topped; some companies cooperate in this move to avoid wastage by keeping receiving stations open after dark to receive beets. When the receiving stations are not kept open, growers are urged to cover the loads with leaves. Some growers have found it profitable to put canvas covers over their loads of beets to prevent frost injury and drying.

An item that needs attention is the rather considerable loss of beets because of overloading of trucks. Because the trucks delivering beets travel at high speed, many beets are lost off the loads on curves or where the roads are rough.

Several tons of beets per day can frequently be picked up along a highway. As handling often is done by contract, this waste is preventable by suitable attention on the part of the grower and his contractor. ❖

THE SUGARBEET GROWER (Upper Midwest) November/December 2012

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We splashed around in water, We pulled the trucks through muck.

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He told us that he could work Forty days and forty nights.

After that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have to leave, His schedule was too tight.

Something seemed a little strange, Coincidence or not.

Ever since the new guy came, It rained an awful lot.

The guys made jokes about Noah At first behind his back.

I said the weatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not his fault, Give the guy some slack.

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Quick of mind and quick of hand, And he was very nice.

He learned it all the first time through; I never showed him twice.

Beet season dragged so very long, We watched the rain come down.

We worked to get the harvest done, We tried hard not to drown.

Your mind can do some strange things Working under that grey sky.

When weather turns against you You start to wonder why.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not a superstitious man, But it must be more than luck.

Noah was the only driver Who never did get stuck.

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

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Al Bloomquist: A Tribute Longtime Sugar Industry Leader — And Founder of The Sugarbeet Grower — Passed Away in August n the years following his retirement in the early 1990s and well into the 2000s, a tall, slender man — often wearing a Minnesota Twins baseball cap — would drive across the Red River from his home in Moorhead, Minn., to a popular restaurant near downtown of neighboring Fargo, N.D. There he’d have a quiet breakfast, usually by himself, occasionally with a friend or acquaintance.

That man was Al Bloomquist.

I used to wonder — in the years before Al’s failing health precluded him from making that breakfast stop — how many other patrons of the Fryn’ Pan restaurant possessed any idea of the impact this soft-spoken, unassuming elderly gentleman had on the region in which they lived. Did they know that he played a major role in preserving and expanding the sugarbeet industry — an industry whose direct economic impact in Minnesota and North Dakota, as of 2011, was estimated at $1.7 billion . . . an industry whose gross business volume as of that year was in the neighborhood of $4.9 billion? Did they know that for decades he knew — and was highly respected by — many of the real “movers and shakers” in Washington, D.C.?

My guess is that very few of those folks sipping their coffee and eating their eggs and pancakes had the slightest clue. I also doubt that their lack of insight or interest mattered at all to Al. Aldrich “Al” Bloomquist, age 91, passed away on August 6, shortly after the July/August issue of The Sugarbeet Grower had been printed and mailed. In subsequent media coverage, he was hailed as a longtime leader in the region’s sugarbeet industry — and he certainly was. But many people don’t know that Al also established this magazine — The Sugarbeet Grower — in the early 1960s and owned it until 1986. Given that he was a journalist before entering the world of sugar, it was a natural extension for him.

A native of Willmar, Minn., Al enrolled at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., after high school. His college years were interrupted by World War II, however, during which

I

16

Al Bloomquist he served in the U.S. Navy. He returned to Gustavus after the war and graduated in 1946. Al and his wife of 68 years, Meredith, were married while he was in the service.

After several years during which he worked at various jobs, including a couple stints with southern Minnesota newspapers, Al entered the sugarbeet industry in 1955 as the Minneapolisbased regional manager for Western Beet Sugar Producers, a group funded by beet sugar processing companies to promote sales of their product. When the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association decided to hire its first executive secretary in 1961, they offered the post to Al — and he accepted.

His decade-plus tenure with the RRVSGA involved numerous duties for Al; but by far his most far-reaching accomplishment was to spearhead the 1973 purchase of American Crystal Sugar Company by Red River Valley growers. While the company’s transition into a grower-owned cooperative obviously wouldn’t have happened without those farmers’ bold financial commitment, it’s widely agreed that Al Bloomquist’s vision, tenacity and strategical smarts sparked and fueled the historic venture.

In a 2003 interview with The Sugarbeet Grower, Al was asked, “What do

you believe would have happened to sugarbeets in the Red River Valley had not the growers bought Crystal when they did?” He answered: “Well, East Grand Forks [factory] would have closed the next year (1974). That was already on the chopping block. It needed a lot of work, and the company had decided not to invest in it. Hillsboro was not part of Crystal at that time. So that left Moorhead, Crookston and Drayton, and they were getting run down — minimal maintenance.

Actually, Crystal was a company that was moving toward the end. They just were not putting anything back in.”

After American Crystal became a co-op in 1973, Al was named its vice president of public affairs, focusing on grower concerns, legislative issues and public relations. He held that post for nearly two decades, during which he made innumerable trips to Washington, D.C., lobbying on behalf of Crystal and becoming a highly respected spokesman of the beet sugar industry.

He capped off his long career by serving as president and CEO of American Crystal in 1991 and then, for a time, in a consultancy role.

Given the number of lives he touched, the knowledge he had and the role he played for decades, an entire book could be written about Al Bloomquist — the type of person he was and his importance to the U.S. beet sugar community. For purposes of this tribute in the magazine he founded, however, we asked three individuals who knew Al well to share a few thoughts about him. — Don Lilleboe • George “Bud” Sinner served as governor of North Dakota from 1985 through 1992. A partner in the family farm at Casselton, N.D., since 1952, he was president of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association during 1975-79. After leaving the governor’s office, he became vice president-public affairs for American Crystal Sugar Company, a post he held until 1996.

“Al had a wonderful calm demeanor and a tranquil mind. He thought his thoughts, and he thought them quietly.

He listened to everybody — but he was

THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

not persuaded by anything he didn’t really believe. I always admired his ability to take flak — sometimes abuse — and yet stay the course.

“He wasn’t a ‘rabble-rouser’ leader.

He was a quiet, persuasive leader who drew others to understand what he understood. His background was in journalism, but he understood that if a railroad’s going to run, you have to run it. You can’t just let it idle along, not fixing the tracks and not updating. He understood a ton of things.

“I think Al was probably among the first to realize that American Crystal had to have a political action committee. I don’t think it was in the minds of the farmers; it was a ‘dirty word’ to most of them. But reality was, that’s the way the world ran — and it wasn’t going to change anytime soon. So either you played or you stayed home.

“On the Washington scene, he had so many friends — in Congress, in the Department (USDA) — and his influence was huge. He would remind them of the needs of the sugar farmers.

That’s what he always talked about.”

• James Johnson joined the staff of the United States Beet Sugar Association in February 1989 and became its president in 1999. He first met Al Bloomquist several years earlier while a congressional staffer. As president of American Crystal in the early ’90s, Al sat on the USBSA Board of Trustees.

“As a leader and a founding father of the beet sugar cooperative movement in the Red River Valley, Al’s experience and expertise ‘spilled over’ and led the way for so many other parts of the country. During the past 15 years or so, the beet sugar industry has become totally farmer cooperative-owned.

I think many people would look back and see Al Bloomquist’s work in the ’60s and ’70s as essential to that evolution — ground-breaking.

“His credibility was unmatched.

Whether it was at the farm gate or the factory line or in the halls of Congress, Al Bloomquist’s word was his bond.

You could bank on it. When he came into a room where members of Congress were present, I noticed they would come over to Al to find out what was on his mind; he didn’t have to cross the room to them.

“It was a combination of his personality and the respect that he earned through decades. I’ve always heard there are ‘show horses’ and there are ‘work horses.’ Al was a work horse who really did shine in the ring as well.

“He was a lovely man. I miss him still.”

‘He was a quiet, persuasive leader who drew others to understand what he understood . . . [And] he understood a ton of things.’

• David Berg is president and CEO of American Crystal Sugar Company.

He joined the company in 1987 and held several management posts prior to becoming president in 2007. Berg first met Al Bloomquist in 1979 while working as a reporter for Fargo-based television station WDAY. “While working at WDAY, I came into American Crystal to ask what the impact would be when Coca-Cola reformulated to use high fructose corn syrup. Was it going to hurt the sugar industry? Al was confident the industry would be able to absorb it. So here we are, 30-plus years later. Coke has used a ‘gazillion’ tons of HFCS since then, and the sugar industry is as healthy as it’s ever been, considering the hit it took.

“After I came to work at Crystal, he

remembered me and that conversation, and we laughed about it.

“Al understood the whole picture.

He wasn’t an accountant, he wasn’t a salesperson; but he understood all of it.

And he understood the people, the relationships — and they were important to him. That’s why he was so respected: intelligence and decency. He understood it all, and he treated you with respect. It was just nice to be around him. He was as unassuming and unegoistical a person as you’ll ever meet.

“The stereotype of a lobbyist is the sharpie who always has an angle, who’s always trying to figure out a different way to convince you to do something you might not be otherwise interested in doing. That wasn’t Al. He just knew the whole story, the whole equation, and he used logic, facts — and decency.

“He understood people, he understood coalition building with other agricultural commodities. He worked with them so everybody knew their interests were going to be heard. Then, when he went to a member of Congress or a staff person, they understood they weren’t going to be flimflammed. You were going to get the whole package from Al.” ❖

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

17

ere there an “Association of NoTill Sugarbeet Producers,” the group probably could hold its annual meeting inside a single beet cart. Reduced-tillage beet growers? Of course, there’s a lot of that these days. Striptill beets? Certainly. But bona fide notill? That’s still a rarity, to be sure.

Three of that rare breed — Dana Berwick, Miles Knudsen and Doug Smith — farm cooperatively near the northeastern Montana community of Culbertson. While they own and rent ground separately, the trio shares labor as well as planting and some harvesting equipment. Knudsen and Smith have raised sugarbeets for a number of years; Berwick grew just his third crop of beets in 2012. Like its predecessors, it went in on no-till standing wheat stubble.

Adding to their operations’ uniqueness: all of Berwick’s beet acreage and some of Knudsen’s and Smith’s is under flood irrigation — their plentiful water source being the nearby Missouri River.

Why no-till beets? Sandy soils and lots of spring wind lie at the center of their answer. “One of the biggest challenges around here is getting the beets up and established,” Berwick remarks.

“They’ll blow out in the wind or dry out in worked ground. Those two problems are alleviated with the no-till. The eight- to 10-inch high standing stubble keeps them from blowing, and that straw also helps keep the sun from crusting the ground. And, since we don’t start out with dry dirt, we’re not forced to ‘water up’ the beets as often.”

Plus, no-till saves them time and money, the three Sidney Sugars growers concur. “To fall prepare these fields is a major undertaking,” Berwick says.

“It takes a lot of hours and a lot of diesel fuel.”

“You really can’t do any sort of tillage and end up with a prepared beet field for less than probably $50 an acre,” Knudsen adds. “By just doing a good job of combining [the previous grain crop] and spending some money on row cleaners for the planter, we’re saving that $50 an acre.”

Preparation of the next season’s notill beet field begins at harvest of the preceding small grain crop. The key, they emphasize, is distributing the wheat or barley residue as evenly as possible across the field. The trio runs JD 9860 and 9760 rotary combines with choppers. “We don’t want a [flat mat] of straw,” Berwick states. “A good chopper turns it into dust, basically.”

W

No-Till Sugarbeets

Photo: Vanessa Pooch

Photo: Don Lilleboe

Working Well for N.E. Montana Growers

Left: Planting sugarbeets into standing wheat stubble near Culbertson, Mont.

18

THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

The only fall field operation is a glyphosate burndown. Another glyphosate application goes on preplant in the spring, usually followed by a post treatment. “The introduction of Roundup Ready® Sugarbeets has made no-till much more feasible,” Berwick affirms. “It would have been a lot tougher, otherwise.”

The beets are planted at a slight angle to the standing stubble with a JD 1730 MaxEmergePlus equipped with Martin floating row cleaners. “We put down liquid fertilizer with the seed,” Berwick explains. “Then we have Schlagel closing wheels.” Along with the postemergent glyphosate treatment, split applications of nitrogen constitute the only other field operation prior to harvest.

That’s aside from irrigating, of course. As noted, while Knudsen and Smith have a mix of center-pivot and flood-irrigated fields, all of Berwick’s sugarbeets are under flood irrigation.

“Normally, we allow the beets to come up on their own,” he explains. “That’s one nice part about the no-till: there’s

Photo: Don Lilleboe

Right: A cut through one of the borders allows the water to flow into this floodirrigated beet field.

typically enough moisture in that soil.”

(The 2012 season was an exception, though, due to the very dry spring, so they did irrigate after seeding.)

Berwick will usually flood his beet fields three times each season. “There’s

a border every 60 or 90 feet, depending on the field,” he explains. The low-tech system allows the water to fan through the field, with the objective, of course, to provide an equal volume of water to the beets at the bottom of the field as those

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

19

Left: Sidney Sugars agriculturist Vanessa Pooch with, left to right, Dana Berwick, Miles Knudsen and Doug Smith.

Photo: Don Lilleboe

at the top. The timing of an irrigation set largely depends upon the length of the field and its soil type (mostly sandy, in Berwick’s case). “You basically just push water to the end of the field,” he says. Some of his fields call for an 18hour set; others as few as three hours.

So how well does it work? While acknowledging the water-use efficiency disparity between a center-pivot system and flood irrigation, Berwick simultaneously points out that: (1) he’s not operating under water-use restrictions when he pumps out of the Missouri River, (2) he hasn’t incurred the cost of installing center pivots, and (3) his final beet yields and sugar quality have been on par with — or better than — the Sidney Sugars average.

To date, the Culbertson trio’s no-till sugarbeets have always followed wheat or barley. Now that they’ve switched their corn from 30-inch rows to 22s, however, they envision more beets following no-till corn, planted between the old corn rows. They’re also considering variable-rate seeding.

Is emergence slower in the spring with no-till versus conventional beets?

Maybe a little, Berwick concedes. “But we’re seeding later up here anyway (compared to the Sidney area) due to frost — up to 10 days later in some years,” he says. “So that gives the ground more time to warm up.”

No-till beets aren’t the answer for most sugarbeet growers, these three Montanans understand. “But for us, the benefits have far outweighed any problems,” Berwick says. “We don’t have blowouts, we typically have enough moisture in the soil — and when we do water, that old-crop stubble definitely helps cuts down on evapotranspiration.” — Don Lilleboe ❖

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

Around The Industry Syngenta Awards Sugarbeet Scholarships to Four Students

Stephanie George

Connor Cook

Aleighica Keeran

Matthew Singer

Syngenta is investing in the future of agriculturally focused college students interested in taking a lead in sugarbeets. For the third year, Syngenta has awarded scholarships through the annual Syngenta Sugarbeet Scholarship program. The 2012 winners are Stephanie George of Moxee, Wash.; Connor Cook of Baker, Minn.; Aleighica Keeran of Torrington, Wyo., and Matthew Singer of Vassar, Mich. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We applaud the decision of these outstanding students to pursue a career in agriculture,â&#x20AC;? said Tyler Ring, Syngenta crop portfolio manager for sugarbeets. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Syngenta is honored to support education in the agriculture field, and we wish our scholarship winners the best in their college careers.â&#x20AC;?

Each applicant answered an essay question about what has had the biggest impact on the sugarbeet industry and their vision for future improvements. Applications were evaluated for creativity, flow and professional appeal.

The winners were chosen out of 42 applicants, all with an involvement in 4-H or the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America).

One scholarship recipient summarized her thoughts on the future of sugarbeets when she wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;By continuing research, selecting for improved characteristics and implementing more effi-

cient farming practices, I believe that the sugarbeet industry will successfully meet the demands of consumers in the years to come.â&#x20AC;?

Sugarbeet scholarship opportunities for 2013 will be announced by Syngenta at the American Sugarbeet Growers Association meeting in San Diego, Calif., in February.

campaign. Sales tax exemptions were approved by Richland County and the State of North Dakota. About 20 fulltime positions will be created by the addition of the desugarization and load-out facility.

Minn-Dak Building $70.3 Million Molasses Desugarization Facility

The American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding during the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 37th biennial meeting, to be held on February 27-March 2, 2013.

The meeting takes place at the Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, Calif.

The event begins on the 27th with registration, poster setup and the evening Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Reception. A general session is held on the morning of the 28th, followed by agricultural and operations technical sessions that afternoon and throughout the next two days.

Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative began construction this fall on a $70.3 million molasses desugarization add-on to its sugarbeet factory at Wahpeton, N.D. Construction of the facility, which was formally approved by the co-opâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board of directors in late August, is expected to be finished within two years.

Minn-Dak shareholders will contribute approximately $24 million toward the project through the 2014 crop

37th ASSBT Biennial Meeting Scheduled for Feb. 27-March 2

PRESIDENT AND CEO Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative is seeking an executive to lead the Cooperative, its members and employees.

Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative is a North Dakota Cooperative owned by approximately 475 sugarbeet growers located in North Dakota and Minnesota. The Cooperative processes VXJDUEHHWV JURZQ E\ WKH VKDUHKROGHUV JURZHUV DQG PDUNHWV WKH UHÂżQHG VXJDU DQG FR SURGXFWV produced.

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Â&#x2021; Senior executive experience demonstrating competence and ability in leading a major business. Â&#x2021; 6WURQJ EXVLQHVV VNLOOV ZLWK ÂżQDQFLDO ERWWRP OLQH IRFXV Â&#x2021; Able to lead the development and implementation of a Strategic Vision for the Cooperative. Â&#x2021; Demonstrated leader and developer of people. Â&#x2021; Able to clearly articulate and communicate the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision and position with VKDUHKROGHUV JURZHUV HPSOR\HHV HOHFWHG RIÂżFLDOV JRYHUQPHQWDO ERGLHV DQG RWKHUV LQ WKH industry. Â&#x2021; Business experience in the sugar industry and/or a Cooperative is considered a plus.

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THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

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21

Betaseed Hosts Ag Safety Day for Kids in Three Beet Communities

The 2013 ASSBT meeting concludes with the traditional awards banquet on the evening of March 2.

Complete meeting information can be found on the ASSBT’s website — www.bsdf-assbt.org.

2013 International Sugarbeet Institute March 13-14 in Fargo

Betaseed sponsored, organized and participated in three Progressive Agriculture Safety Day events in September. This is the third year that Betaseed has been involved with the Progressive Agriculture Foundation. The first event was held in Wahpeton, N.D., in 2010 and since has expanded to Argyle, Minn., in 2011, and Mitchell, Neb., in 2012. In 2012, more than 400 third, fourth and fifth graders in these communities received safety training and education on several topics, including fire safety, bike safety, drug awareness, seatbelt safety, PTO safety and grain handling safety.

Betaseed plans to continue to partner with the Progressive Safety Day Foundation and sponsor these events in areas where sugarbeets are grown. Betaseed employees Rene Scheurer, Cody Lehman, John Dillman, Jason Evenson and Duane Bernhardson are trained coordinators and are in the planning stages of organizing additional Progressive Agriculture Safety Days for 2013. The mission of the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Foundation is to provide education and training to make farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier for children and their communities.

The 51st edition of the International Sugarbeet Institute will be held March 13 and 14, 2013, at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D. The ISBI is North America’s largest sugarbeet industry trade show. The 2012 event in Grand Forks, N.D., showcased about 125 exhibitors and drew more than 2,300 visitors.

Featured speakers at the 2013 ISBI will be Luther Markwart, executive vice president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, on the 13th; and Howard Dahl, president of Amity Technology, on the 14th.

Any companies desiring exhibiting information for the 2013 International Sugarbeet Institute can contact exhibits coordinator Bob Cournia at (218) 281-4681. Other ISBI-related questions should be directed to Dr. Mohamed Khan, organizing committee chairman, at (701) 231-8596.

Louisiana-Based AUM Now Known as Crompion International Baton Rouge, La.-based specialty stainless steel producer American Utility Metals (AUM), LLC has changed its name to Crompion International, LLC. The name change and rebranding come as the company works to expand its global presence and reinforce its focus on creating solutions through new services and additional metallurgists on staff, notes President George Shaffer.

Since 2000, AUM has supplied and distributed Cromgard, a high-performance, low-nickel stainless steel to a loyal base of worldwide customers in a broad range of industries — including the sugarcane and sugarbeet sectors.

During that time, it has evolved into a company that goes beyond a single grade of stainless steel offerings to provide solutions to customers’ needs and now reflects this evolution in its transformation into Crompion International.

Now That’s One Hefty Sugarbeet Root — 34.5 Lbs Worth

2013 ASGA Annual Meeting Sidney Sugars decided to have a little fun during this fall’s harvest, so the ag staff sponsored its first “Big Beet Contest.” This year’s winner was John Asbeck of the Sugar Valley station (Fairview, N.D.), who brought in this one weighing 34 lbs, 8 oz.

Shown with it in this photo are Sidney Sugars agriculturists Todd Erickson (left) and Duane Peters. (No word on its sugar content.)

22

February 3-5 San Diego, Calif. www.americansugarbeet.org

THE SUGARBEET GROWER November/December 2012

JANUARY 29-31, 2013 Preview day: January 29—by special admission

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Figure out how to make your whole operation stronger, faster and more progressive. Check out the equipment, inputs and services that’ll help get you there. This is AG CONNECT 2013.

Register to attend at www.agconnect.com.

> > > >>\>> > A> > >>\>> ? ?

It All Starts Here For over forty years, the people behind Betaseed’s research and breeding program have continued to provide growers the best possible sugarbeet genetics available in North America.

From our industry-leading nematode tolerant varieties, to our strong, multiple disease tolerant packages like MultiSource,™ to our Betashield™ seed treatments, !"#$!%&'()&*$&'")+,$)-&-.(-&-.$&/$-(%$$,&0(!1$-1$%&-.$2&34()-&(!$&5!"6&3$"34$& who care about their success.

Contact your local Betaseed Sales Representative today.

Betaseed.com 800-428-8455