Upon this recommendation, U.S. sugar producers — sugar beet growers and cane growers alike — contribute 80 percent of the sugar the nation consumes.

Although beets are also grown in western and other Midwestern states, the Red River Valley accounts for more than 40 percent of U.S. beet sugar production and one-fifth of all U.S. sugar output.

Farmers and sugar beet officials say planting is about three weeks behind schedule. In 2010, Michigan Sugar’s growers began planting on March 18 and most beets were in the ground by April 14.

Sugar beet remains a crop of significant global economic importance, particularly in regions where it contributes to both sugar production and renewable resource applications.

In 1898, the College Farm in Fort Collins and the substation in Rocky Ford, both part of then-Colorado A&M, conducted the most extensive experiments on sugar beet production than ever done previously.

A new study has uncovered key genetic factors that influence both biomass and sugar content in sugar beet, a critical crop for global sugar production. By analyzing 269 diverse sugar beet ...

The new crop was expected to generate 3.9 million tonnes in beet sugar production in the 2021/22 season, up from 3.5 million in 2020/21, and around 9 million hectolitres of alcohol and ethanol ...

Last year farmers who grow sugarbeets for Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Co-op harvested a record 36.5 tons per acre, which was 6.2 tons per acre more than the previous record of 30.3 tons set in 2017.