Hola, eh!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, indeed, I did work on a sugar beet farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was in high-school days, and I had a perfectly good part-time job working as an electrician\u2019s aid for my father. But a few of us kids decided we needed to break out of the mold and get our own jobs. So the 6 of us went down to the employment agency and waited around for a while, and this guy with an pickup truck finally picked us up to work on his farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The job was to work down the rows of sugar beets, pulling up weeds with a hoe. We got $0.25 per row.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n They others lasted 6 rows before giving up. I managed two more rows (up and back) before I joined them. It was back-breaking, hot, thirsty work and we didn\u2019t even last 2 hours!<\/p>\n<\/div> The farmer, when he returned to check on us, was absolutely furious, refused to pay us and told us to find our own way back to town (about 20 miles). We threatened to report him for putting minors at risk, so he drove us back to town, but still refused to pay us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time, I had no knowledge of the Japanese workers or WWII or for that matter, much of anything. It wasn\u2019t until I met Rochelle that I learned about the sugarbeet workers (55 years later). I can\u2019t imagine how anyone could spend day after day hunched over a row of plants with a hoe, and I do know what that feels like.<\/p>\nElder JA<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February 2015, a USDA factsheet reported that sugar beets generally account for about 55 percent<\/strong> of domestically produced sugar, and sugar cane for about 45 percent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The root of the beet contains 75% water, about 20% sugar, and 5% pulp. The exact sugar content can vary between 12% and 21%, depending on the cultivar and growing conditions. Sugar is the primary value of sugar beet as a cash crop. The pulp, insoluble in water and mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin, is used in animal feed. The byproducts of the sugar beet crop, such as pulp and molasses, add another 10% to the value of the harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most important requirements are that the soil must contain a large supply of nutrients, be rich in humus, and be able to contain a great deal of moisture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A temperature ranging from 15 to 21 \u00b0C (59 to 70 \u00b0F) during the growing months is most favorable. In the absence of adequate irrigation, 460 mm (18 inches) of rainfall are necessary to raise an average crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In high elevation regions such as those of Idaho, Colorado and Utah, where the temperature is high during the daytime, but where the nights are cool, the quality of the sugar beet is excellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sugar beet crops exhaust the soil rapidly. Crop rotation is recommended and necessary. Normally, beets are grown in the same ground every third year, peas, beans or grain being raised the other two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the northern end of its range, growing seasons as short as 100 days<\/strong><\/em> can produce commercially viable sugar beet crops. In warmer climates, such as in California’s Imperial Valley, sugar beets are a winter crop, planted in the autumn and harvested in the spring.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a> \/ Map by AndrewMT – Own work; compiled by the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Until the latter half of the 20th century, sugar beet production was highly labor-intensive, as weed control was managed by densely planting the crop, which then had to be manually thinned two or three times with a hoe during the growing season. Harvesting also required many workers. Although the roots could be lifted by a plough-like device that could be pulled by a horse team, the rest of the preparation was by hand. One laborer grabbed the beets by their leaves, knocked them together to shake free loose soil, and then laid them in a row, root to one side, greens to the other. A second worker equipped with a beet hook (a short-handled tool between a billhook and a sickle) followed behind, and would lift the beet and swiftly chop the crown and leaves from the root with a single action. Working this way, he would leave a row of beets that could be forked into the back of a cart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most productive sugar beet farms in the world, in 2022, were in Chile<\/strong>, with a nationwide average yield of 106.2 tonnes per hectare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imperial Valley (California)<\/strong> farmers have achieved yields of about 160 tonnes per hectare and over 26 tonnes sugar per hectare. Imperial Valley farms benefit from high intensities of incident sunlight and intensive use of irrigation and fertilizers.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n WLBOTT Word of the Day:<\/strong> From The Science Channel:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kCTS1gxEeLAub9T4oJ5b-0-8t5ty.jpg\")
<\/figure>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/download-12-2.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/download-17-3.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSugar Beets – The Nuts and Bolts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/276_Beta_vulgaris_L.jpg\")
<\/figure>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Sugarbeetoutput.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPictures of Large Quantities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n