This pile of Sugar beets were deemed unusable due to weather conditions as of the time this picture was taken in Huntley on December 3rd. Summer hail storms and a short harvest season mixed with cold weather spurts caused hard conditions to harvest the beets out of the ground with many of the beets still left in the ground, However, Western Sugar Cooperative harvested some of the beets in the middle of this beet dump pile but left the rest to rot. As of December 11, the beets continue to sit in a pile at the Huntley beet dump.
(Jonathan McNiven photo)
In light of the massive weather-induced damage to sugar beet crops across Montana, Governor Bullock has sent a request to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue requesting federal aid for Montana sugar beet farmers, including here in Yellowstone County. In Bullock’s letter the Secretary Perdue, he says, “Both the production and quality of Montana’s sugarbeet crop experienced severe losses in affected areas. Due to the extreme unseasonable snowstorms, freezing temperatures, and excessive rain in late September and early October, numerous acres were unharvested. These losses represent a significant negative economic impact to the affected areas.”
The Commissioners of McCone, Rosebud, Carbon, and Richland counties were the first to call on Governor Bullock to call for a Secretarial Disaster Designation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture due to “excessive rain and humidity, severe storms, snow, ice, frost, freeze, and below-normal temperatures.” A similar request came swiftly afterwards from the Southern Montana Sugarbeet Growers Association on behalf of Yellowstone, Treasure, and Big Horn counties. CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE STORY
