Byline: Mikkel Pates
Oct. 2--After an average or above-average cereal crop, the potential for the late-season row crops in the region is a solid B or A, according to a variety of crop experts.
"This crop came out of reform school this spring and is exceeding expectations," says Tom Knudsen, vice president for agriculture at Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative in Wahpeton, N.D., in answer to a request for him to give his area's sugar beets an academic grade.
"It's not going to be a valedictorian like it was last year," he says.
"Professor" Knudsen thinks the southern valley sugar beets will run in the 20-ton-per-acre category, which is at the "lower end of average." ...