Idaho Sugar Beet Farmers Replanting After Freezing Temperatures

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An early-season of frosty nights across southern Idaho has the region's sugar beet producers thinking about replanting their crops.

The Capital Ag Press reports that a string of mid-April temperatures below freezing forced growers from Mountain Home to Minidoka County to replant thousands of acres of sugar beets. Fewer replants occurred in western Idaho, where temperatures were warmer in April.

The freeze and subsequent replant cycle has damped prospects for a crop projected to rival last year's record 35.5-tons-per-acre average yield. Still, growers who planted again say warmer May temperatures have brightened the outlook.