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Show Utah Expects Large Sugar Beet Output Utah's biggest sugar beet crop since 1954 was forecast this week by the U. S. Department of Agriculture Ag-riculture Crop Reporting Board in its July summary, despite a hot, dry, windy season which has adversely affected most crops in the state thus far in the season. sea-son. The Board's report said indications indica-tions are Utah beet growers will harvest 476,000 tons of beets this fall from 34,000 acres. Last year's yield was 470,000 tons from 29,100 acres. Effects of the hot, dry spring and summer season were reflected reflect-ed in the Board's estimate that the average yield per acre in Utah this fall will be 14 tons of sugar beets, down more than two tons per acre under the 16.2 ton yield in 1957. However, the ability of the state's farmers to plant their full 1958 acreage allotment, al-lotment, set by the Department of Agriculture under Sugar Act controls, off-set the expected drop in average yield. This was the first year since 1955 the full allotment was used. Drouth in southern Utah had held plantings plant-ings below normal for two full seasons. Nationally, the Board said the sugar beet crop is expected to aggregate 14,549,000 tons of sugar beets this year, a 6 per cent drop below last year's all time record fo 15,497,000 tons, but still 24 per cent above the ten year average. Adverse conditions, con-ditions, including wet spring and later hail in some areas was blamed for the production decline. de-cline. Especially hit by inclement weather have been California and Colorado, the nation's first and second ranking sugar beet states." Currently the nation's sugar beet farmers are supplying more than one fourth of the national sugar requirements, western beet sugar reaching the ultimate consumer con-sumer directly and by way of hundreds of food processing companies com-panies who use the western product. |