Bumper beet crop for Bighorn Basin growers

WORLAND, Wyo. (AP) - Sugar beet growers have reaped a near-record crop this year in the Bighorn Basin.

Wyoming Sugar Vice President Vince Salzman says yields averaged nearly 30 tons per acre and sugar content topped 18.3 percent. Both are close to all-time records.

Warm fall weather helped farm workers get the beets out of the ground. The Northern Wyoming Daily News reports (www.wyodaily.com ) warm temperatures also can be a problem by degrading harvested beets in storage.

But now frigid cold is forecast this week - good news to sugar beet processors.

Salzman says sub-zero temperatures can be a problem by freezing the piled beets. He says high temperatures around freezing would be much better than the recent highs in the 60s.

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Information from: Northern Wyoming Daily News, https://www.wyodaily.com