The harvest of American sugar beet has ended in most locations, with uptick yields and volume climb year-on-year.
American Crystal Sugar Company, a co-operative in North Dakota and Minnesota, alone has produced a record 13.2 million tonnes in 2024. This is above the 12.17 million tonnes that the company reaped in 2023.
The company’s output is significant as it normally contributes 1/3rd of the nationwide beet supplies.
It is also apparent that the record harvest will cool the market prices, with farmers’ payment down to $75.79 a tonne.
Farm gate payments in 2023 were quite handsome at $83.18 a tonne owing to poor yields of 31.9 tonnes an acre.
36 tonnes/acre Yield Rate
Speaking of which, the sugar beet harvest outside the confines of Crystal Sugar Company has also shown remarkable yields in 2024.
Further west, the Wyoming Sugar reports that Washakie County in southern Wyoming has recorded yields at 36 tonnes/acre.
Overall, Wyoming Sugar company has seen a median 33 tonnes per acre, which means its statewide average is below the county’s.
It is also apparent that hand-in-hand with good yields is a generous sugar content level, which is at 19.6%.
The company says that volumes are piling up on its source farms due to harvest pressure. Nevertheless, the reigning conducive weather will keep the piles intact until the company ends milling it before March 2025.
Sugar Projections
Arguably, the above two scenarios project a substantial annual volume surge in the mid-October through November American harvest.
This could improve federal sugar supplies, which were under-stocked at 14.894 million tonnes for the 2023-24 market year.
It could also mean better beet sugar volume than in 2023, when the federal output downsized to 5.117 million tonnes.
So, as production leader Minnesota and other states report good sugar beet yields, 2024 is ending well albeit with low farmer payments. For more odds and ends about beets and sugar supplies in the United States, skim the statistics below.
American Sugar Beet Statistics
The United States periodically ranks third in the world after Russia and France in sugar beet production. Since this field crop is the main raw material of American sugar production, any production swing can affect the domestic sugar stock. According to FAOSTAT, the U.S.’ beets output was at 29,550,640 tonnes in 2022, a downsizing from 33,355,370 tonnes in 2021. This means 2022 brought low domestic stocks of sugar and the U.S. had to up imports to cover the gap.
Which state leads production of beets in the U.S.?
Minnesota perennially tops U.S.’ beets production at 12,600,000 tonnes, as of 2023. Idaho and North Dakota follow with 7,000,000 and 6,100,000 tonnes, respectively.
What is the portion of sugar beets versus sugarcane in federal sugar production?
Sugar beets account for 55% of the raw material of sugar milling in the U.S., while sugarcane accounts for 45%. Overall, the American sugar output per year averages 8.1 million tonnes. This means over 5 million tonnes of the sugar comes from beets.