Alberta sugar beet growers have an additional 6,000 acres to plant this year.
Lantic Sugar, which owns the sugar factory in Taber, Alta., has expanded contracted sugar beet acres to 28,000 from 22,000 acres that were grown under contract last year.
Ernie Bergen Henengouwen, chair of the sugar beet growers association, said the additional acres are a good sign.
“There’s a bit of a renewed sense of optimism in the industry,” he said.
“People are excited that the acreage is going up. After coming off a good year last year, everybody is anxious to get going.”
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Bergen Henengouwen said Lantic told growers that it had obtained “a fairly substantial contract” for sugar this year and that, coupled with the low Canadian dollar, led to expanded acreage.
No seed has been released to growers so no beets have yet been planted, although there has been a considerable amount of field preparation in southern Alberta because of warm conditions.
Most growers will wait until the irrigation districts start releasing water unless it rains in the next two weeks, said Bergen Henengouwen. Irrigation systems usually come on stream in late April or early May.
Finding another 6,000 acres on which to plant beets might be a scramble for some, he added. Crop rotations and other commitments have to be managed.
“That might be an issue where there’s a lot of canola and seed canola being grown … but by and large I think most of it is going to be taken up in the first go-round.”
Seven of the association’s nine directors are new to the board this year.
The growers also parted ways with executive director Gerald Third, who had been with the association for seven years.
Bergen Henengouwen said Third was “relieved of his duties,” and the search has begun for a replacement, who he hoped would be in place by May or June.
Growers are now in the second year of a four-year contract with Lantic, which was signed last year after rancorous negotiations that saw Lantic threaten to close the Taber sugar plant.
Beets were planted late in the season as a result, but prime growing conditions led to high tonnage and high sugar content.
He said the board is now looking ahead.
“I’m optimistic. Lantic officials have expressed their confidence in the industry by increasing the acreage,” he said.
“We’re looking to keep things going, and it’s our anticipation that we’ll do all we can to facilitate the industry.”
