Like any product Roundup Ready beets first had to undergo scrutiny and prove up before being accepted by processors and the public.

After test plots eased major concerns about yield, quality and weed control officials are confident that within the next couple of years most of the industry will have converted to using the new bio tech product.

American Sugarbeet Growers Association Executive Vice President Luther Markwart explained that although the Roundup Ready sugar beet may be a genetically modified product the sugar processed is virtually the same sugar found on store shelves 100 years ago.

"Any time you do something new with technology, in our industry, it brings up more questions than there are answers," said Markwart.

"Through a lot of work and testing we were able to find out that even in using biotechnology through the processing of the sugar beet all the DNA and protein is removed from the fine sugar. The end product is the same."

Roundup Ready beets have received approval to be grown in the United States and Canada and all major sugar beet market countries have approved the product.

Markwart said he expects formal approval from Europe as early as next week.

"The approval is for the importation of sugar, pulp and molasses from Roundup Ready beets. It is not an approval for the beets to be grown their but what that says is they see no difference in the refined product," Markwart said.

Other questions that needed to be answered before growers plant the product was if it would be manageable and profitable for farmers.

"What is so exciting about the Roundup Ready is it is really a win-win for everyone involved," said Corporate Director of Agriculture for Amalgamated Sugar John Schorr. "We found that it is manageable. When costs for everything from fuel to help goes up it is nice to be able to plant something that may save the grower some money."

Schorr said the beet will produce better profits due to higher yields based on weed control, having to apply less chemicals, and making fewer passes through the field.

"From our position we can still process and deliver the same high-quality product we always have. The environment also wins because a littler footprint is left. The Roundup Ready variety cuts the amount of fuel consumed and it is easier on the soil. When all the pieces come together, it just makes sense," Schorr said.

Duane Grant, a Rupert farmer and National Spokesperson for Roundup Ready beets said that there should be enough seed available next year, when the product becomes commercially available, to plant 200,000 acres.

"The industry is hugely excited. If growers implement this new technology; it reduces trips through the field, provides better fertilizer placement, if the long list of changes are fully captured on it has the potential to reduce costs up to 20 percent," Grant said. "We may not see that for another five to ten years because there is a learning curve involved but I believe this product could really be an asset to the industry."