AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho — Tyson Funk finished planting sugar beets April 20, 10-to-14 days ahead of the long-term average for his area.

“The guys wanted to get done as much as I did,” he said.

Donovan Hartley, who farms north of Paul, Idaho, was in late stages of planting April 21.

“The timing is pretty normal,” Hartley said.

Sugar beet planting is wrapping up in mostly favorable conditions.

“It’s been an excellent spring for sugar beet planting across Idaho, Oregon and Washington,” said Samantha Parrott, executive director of the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association. “Conditions have been very favorable, overall. While parts of the West saw some short delays due to rain, the Upper Snake region — our last to plant — has been moving along smoothly.”

The industry is “very optimistic” about the 2025 crop and hopeful that weather continues to cooperate, she said.

“Our main concern now is avoiding any late frosts that could impact the early beets,” Parrott said.

Amalgamated Sugar has three Idaho processing plants and more than 700 grower-owners. The Boise-based cooperative is “well on its way” to completing planting, communications manager Holly Luna said April 24.

At the time, 154,854 or 87% of the planned 178,200 acres were planted, she said.

Acres planted so far included 31,642 in the Upper Snake River district in eastern Idaho, 61,290 in the Mini-Cassia district that includes the Rupert-Burley Paul area, 31,696 in the Twin Falls district, and 30,226 in the Nampa, Idaho-Nyssa, Ore., district.

“Based on the current pace, we anticipate concluding planting by the first week of May,” Luna said.

“With the successful planting progress, low replants thus far, and favorable early conditions we are looking at another potentially great sugar beet crop and looking forward to a great season,” Matt Wheeler, Amalgamated director of agriculture, said April 24.

While spring planting conditions have been generally favorable, about 1,700 acres have been replanted to date “due to some frost and wind damage,” Luna said.

“Overall, soil moisture conditions have been good for establishing the spring crop, and the current water outlook is about average,” she said.

“I think we will be OK on water,” said Hartley, the Paul-area farmer.

For Amalgamated, a season’s planted acreage is reflected in grower-held shares. In a year of below-average supply of irrigation water, for example, one grower may rent shares to another to ensure beets are planted where water supply is better.

This year’s planned acreage was reduced by 2%, or 98% of total shares, “to help optimize crop size relative to our factory processing capacity,” Luna said.

Funk planned to plant 2% fewer acres, but “we got a few more shares, so our acres ended up about identical” to the 2024 total, he said.

He started planting early as optimal soil moisture and air temperature outweighed slightly below-normal soil temperature at the time.

Soils dried as planting neared its conclusion, and “in our last field, it did kind of catch us,” Funk said. The crew pre-irrigated before planting.

“Usually it’s pretty dry. It’s pretty dry this year,” Hartley said.

The seeds won’t sprout in dry soil, and “some years, when the ground is wetter, some will sprout on their own without irrigation water,” he said.

Sprouting and plant development will accelerate as irrigation continues and the weather warms, Hartley said.

Rodent pressure has been low, in contrast to 2024, Funk said.