New Harvester Will Boost Efficiency, Accuracy for NDSU Sugarbeet Researchers

A new, custom-built sugarbeet harvester is now in the hands of researchers at North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota, thanks to a partnership involving several groups.

The new harvester’s development and purchase is a collaboration between NDSU, the University of Minnesota, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), the Sugar Beet Research and Education board, allied industry partners and growers.

“This is a partnership between the universities and other groups, including farmers and allied industry partners,” said Tom Peters, NDSU Extension sugarbeet agronomist. “All the groups pooled their resources together for this project.”

“This is a great success story of collaboration between the universities, private industry and growers,” said Ross Pape, Sugarbeet Research and Education Board president. “Everyone involved recognized the need to continue world class sugar-beet research right here in the valley, and providing researchers with a modern, sophisticated and reliable harvester is where it all starts.” 

The new harvester was unveiled at the International Sugarbeet Institute on Wednesday morning at the Fargodome with representatives from the partners in the collaboration in attendance.

The need for a new harvester for research was clear. The previous machine was commercially built in the 1950s, and modified for research in 1996. Peters said equipment breakdowns have become more frequent, and finding replacement parts has become more difficult.

The benefits will be immediate – a much more efficient harvest being the main one. It will also potentially cut the amount of manpower needed for harvest in half, Peters said. The new harvester will also improve the ability to collect data that is analyzed by the various groups.

“Ultimately a newer, more modern piece of equipment will improve the accuracy of harvest and also improve harvest efficiency. We felt we needed to upgrade,” Peters said.  “We felt upgrading would improve data quality -- data that helps our stakeholders make meaningful conclusions about our research. For us collection of root and sucrose yield is an extremely important component to our research and it ties-together data collected throughout the season.”

NDSU staff often works alongside the USDA staff during fall harvest.

“The USDA Sugarbeet Genetics program in Fargo relies on field plots scattered across the Red River Valley to help identify germplasm with superior resistance to disease and insect pests, as well as drought tolerance and yield,” said Melvin Bolton, research leader in the USDA-ARS sugarbeet research unit. “Harvesting research plots is labor intensive, especially with an antiquated harvester.  Attaining a new sugar beet harvester will be of significant value to the overall collaborative research among USDA, NDSU and U of M as we continue our impactful work in the sugarbeet research field.”

Designing and building a research-capable harvester was a challenge, and it required time. “There might be only a dozen of these machines in the country so finding a vendor willing to collaborate on the design was challenging”, says Peters. Sugarbeet growers in the Red River Valley were also involved in the design and development of the new harvester; a grower who is also an engineer, in fact built the machine.

“They (growers) were the stimulus for starting this project,” Peters said. “They helped us to develop some of the features of the machine. They helped steer us to the vendor we are using today to build the machine.”

Improving the accuracy and capability of research also has an effect on farmers in the region.

“Sugarbeet growers in North Dakota and Minnesota depend on our Extension programming for data-based recommendations. Without data from replicated field trials, we couldn’t do our job in the areas of weed, insect, and disease management,” said Eric Branch, NDSU Extension sugarbeet specialist. “The new harvester will help us conduct our research accurately and efficiently. While in-season ratings, leaf spot severity, for example, are important, we also want to look at the same metrics that our stakeholders use—yield, sugar percentage, revenue per acre, etc.—that can help sugarbeet growers make decisions and run their farms effectively.”

In addition to improving harvesting time, the new harvester will also aid NDSU and UMN in furthering sugarbeet research.

"The joint collaboration between the sugarbeet research programs at NDSU and UMN demonstrate the continued commitment of land-grant universities to work together to help provide solutions to day-to-day production challenges experienced by agricultural producers in the Red River Valley and surrounding upper Midwest region,” said Joleen Hadrich, associate dean for the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and CFANS Research and Outreach Centers.

“Our conversations around this need began nearly five years ago and was driven by a commitment of the partners – NDSU, UMN, the USDA-ARS, allied industry, and our producers. This project stands as a testament to the power of collaboration around a shared vision to advance agricultural technology." said Frank Casey, Associate Director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. "Together, we brought an idea to life that will advance sugarbeet research, drive data-driven solutions, and enhance productivity in the Red River Valley, setting a new standard for agricultural research. Support from NDSU’s new Food, Energy, and Water Security initiative was also instrumental in making this project possible.”

For more information, visit NDSU’s sugarbeet webpage.