As southern Albertans were frustrated by the long-weekend rain, sugar beet growers had a much different take on the moisture.
With a large chunk of sugar beets already in the ground, the rain that started late last Wednesday was welcome, according to Andrew Llewelyn-Jones, agricultural superintendent at Lantic Sugar.
“We’re over 90-per-cent planted,” he said. “There are still a few acres out there growers have had difficulty with, but not many.”
Compared to last year, when spring harvest lingered due to constant rain, the odd snowstorm and cold temperatures, 2011 has been a pleasure for beet growers.
“We’re in pretty decent shape,” said Llewelyn-Jones. “In many fields, the crop is beginning to emerge.”
And while it would have been nice to see the rain hold off for a few days, to get all the area’s seeding complete, he added the rainfall is just what the doctor ordered for growers with beets in the ground.
“One of the things we needed was moisture, because irrigation water was late and some of the fields were getting pretty dry.”
Llewelyn-Jones said seeding would have wrapped up by the end of last week, if not for the rain, but went on to say growers still have plenty of time to wrap up this week, and still be in line for a potentially above-average crop.
“If June, July and August turn out to be decent growing months, I think we have the makings of a pretty good crop.”
The fact beets were seeded into moisture also helped, as did the stretch of warm, sunny weather that aided spring seeding efforts.
So far this spring, in fact, aside from a few low-lying areas, nearly all of the eligible acres for sugar beets will be planted, despite earlier fears excessive snowfall and early-spring rains might have provided significant seeding challenges. Llewelyn-Jones added the only small setback has been in the Burdett/Bow Island area, where about 40 acres will need to be replanted after that area suffered wind damage.