A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged production of sugar beets in California at 1.10 million tons in 2011. Though that's slightly down from 2010, production, yield and harvested acreage were all relatively unchanged from 2010 to 2011.The state's harvested acreage in 2011, at 25,100 acres, was down 2 percent from 2010. With the state's yield, at 44.0 tons per acre, down one percent from 2010 to 2011, three key markers of the state's production show a 2011 season very similar to the one that preceded it.
National production did not fare as well from 2010 to 2011, with total production, at 28.8 million tons, falling 10 percent between the two years. Because harvested area, at 1.21 million acres, remained unchanged between 2010 and 2011, that means the reason for the dip in production has been reduced yield. National yield per acre, at 23.8 tons, was down 3.9 tons from 2010's mark of 27.7 tons.