Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Ag Moment focus: recent sugar beet news

I thought I'd try something new so here goes. Here is a compilation of a few stories (not necessarily recent) dealing with one subject. The first subject up to bat is Sugar Beets.

From the Business - Sugar beet farmers 'get too much cash'

Sugar farmers in Europe are getting far too generous compensation payments at the expense of Third World growers, according to a new report. Some of the poorest countries in the world will get a fraction of the £5bn payments paid to EU sugar beet growers over the next five years, said Lord Renton of Mount Harry, chairman of the Lords' environment and agriculture sub-committee. In today's 57-page report, Too Much or Too Little? Changes to the EU Sugar Regime, he said that the reform was “welcome and necessary”.

From Mlive.com - Can't beet it - Sugar-beet byproduct mixes with salt to keep icy roads clear and safe

Sugar is good on cereal, so why not snow? There's something called De-Ice 55, a liquid made from sugar beets, that's being used in parts of Michigan and throughout the country. It sticks to roads and helps salt do its job. The stuff isn't being used anywhere locally. Bay City uses a similar corn byproduct on its four bridges and around town.

From BBC.com - Sugar beet threat to biofuel unit

Farmers across East Anglia are likely to refuse to grow extra sugar beet for a new bioethanol fuel plant. The NFU claims farmers are enthusiastic about such uses for their crop but a price of £10 a tonne was well below production costs. British Sugar insist the price is the best for many years for the "C" grade beet they are targeting. Cole Carter from British Sugar said this grade was grown as a quota backup in case crops were hit by bad weather.

From the IdahoStateJournal.com - Soggy weather causes woes for area sugar beet growers

AMERICAN FALLS - Driving a Caterpillar tractor, Tony Baca escorted a green truck hauling two empty hoppers toward an immense pile of sugar beets. As Baca predicted, the truck sank into the mud and got stuck en route to pick up its sweet cargo. Mainly due to a wet spring, sugar beet growers statewide reported having their third best crop ever for total yield and second best crop for sugar content.

No comments: