According to USDA’s latest crop progress report released on Monday, only one percent of Michigan’s sugar beets have been planted! But, the five-year average for this time of year is 15 percent.
“Oh, yeah—we’d like to be done by now,” says Carl Bednarski, a sugar beet producer from Tuscola County. He retired as president of Michigan Farm Bureau at the end of 2024.
“Yeah, there are a couple of fields here and there that have been planted—probably at least a week or 10 days ago when we had some nice weather before all the rain—but, everything is pretty much at a standstill here in Michigan,” he says. “It’s just way too wet, as in many parts of the country, and it doesn’t seem to be subsiding, but we’re looking at starting planting at the end of next week, so, we’re hoping that maybe we can get in the ground.”
With the later start to sugar beet planting, he says he’ll likely be planting that crop at the same time as his corn and soybeans.
“Yes, it’s going to be very hectic, and some of our suppliers are going to be probably stretched to get fertilizer spread to keep everybody happy and moving along as they would like to be because they’re going to be anxious to get that stuff in the ground.”
He adds that it’s still too soon to be worried about yield-loss.
“I think the potential is still all there, but if we start looking into planting in May—now, we’re going to maybe be taking a little bit of a yield drag, but that’s not much of any concern right now,” he says.
So, what advice does Bednarski have for Michigan sugar beet growers?
“We’re dealing with Mother Nature, and some things we just cannot control. But, remember there’s an old saying that, ‘A farmer will kill his crop three times before it’s harvested.’ So, don’t be so pessimistic. We’ll get the crop in the ground. We’ve got good crop insurance programs if we don’t, but it’s still way too early to be saying, ‘Hey, what are we going to do?’ The majority of it will get in the ground. The weather will break, and we’ll have our opportunity, our window to get it in,” says Bednarski.
For now, growers across Michigan are watching the forecast as closely as their fields, balancing patience with the urgency of a compressed planting window. While persistent rains have delayed early progress and raised concerns about logistics and timing, farmers like Bednarski remain cautiously optimistic that a stretch of drier weather will allow them to catch up quickly, underscoring the resilience—and uncertainty—that define each spring planting season.
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