WORLAND — Clark Enterprises Inc. of Worland will be honored at the upcoming American Sugarbeet Growers Association (ASGA) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 6-8.

Clark Enterprises was nominated by Wyoming Sugar for Sugar Producer Magazine’s Grower of the Year Award. Sugar Producer Magazine editor Tyrell Marchant said the annual award has been presented for more than 15 years.

Each year the magazine works with the ASGA and contacts several sugarbeet companies for nominees. This year they selected Clark Enterprises from the list of nominees, Marchant said.

Wyoming Sugar CEO Mike Greear said when he was approached for a nominee his first instinct was Clark Enterprises because they have consistently been on the top 10 grower list for the company. For 2019, he said, Clark Enterprises was the best beet grower. “They had the most sugar per acre (12,501 pounds per acre) and given the year we had that’s quite impressive,” Greear said.

But in addition to the highest yield, Greear said Tom and Wesley Clark also helped other growers harvest their crop once they were finished harvesting.

Tom Clark, who also serves as chairman of the Wyoming Sugar Board, said, “We got our crop out in decent shape but growers struggled tremendously. Everyone had freeze damage.”

As the winner for the Sugar Producer Magazine Grower of the Year, Clark Enterprises will receive a plaque at the annual meeting and have expenses paid for the trip to the convention.

Tom Clark said the expenses cover two people to attend, but they are making it a family affair with Tom and Wesley going, along with Tom’s wife Connie, their son Colton and Colton’s children McKenna and Connor, Tom and Connie’s daughter Cenzie and Aaron Burleson and their son Foster. Tim is unable to attend.

Clark Enterprises began humbly in 1950 when Tom’s father Frank Bentley “Ben” Clark began farming. He and his brother Tim began running the business in 1980, although they worked for Clark Enterprises starting when they were young. The company was incorporated in 1970. Clark Enterprises is Tom and Connie Clark, Tim and Brenda Clark and Tim’s son Wesley.

CHANGES

At one time they were farming 750 acres and ran Washakie Feeders feed lot. They now farm 200 acres and sold Washakie Feeders last fall.

In addition to sugarbeets they grow malted barley for Miller Coors, corn for silage and alfalfa for Washakie Feeders and selling hay on the open market.

Tom Clark said they tried growing other crops a few times but the Big Horn Basin weather is not conducive for a lot of crops, including mint. Sugarbeets, Clark said, “is a good crop for this area. It fits this area well and we do a good job producing them. We normally have good weather to store them,” he said.

Clark Enterprises has seen changes in equipment including satellite GPS tracking systems on the tractor that helps them move along “straight as a string.” Other advantages come with operator comfort in the equipment.

This past harvest is not the only tough harvest Clark Enterprises has endured, Tom Clark said. He said there was a terrible harvest in the fall of 1971 when they were working clear into the early morning hours to try and get the crop out. More recently he said there was a wet harvest in 2013 and another wet year in 2016.

FARMING

So why keep farming? “Farming is a good way of life. It’s a good place to raise kids. It has gotten better with new genetics in the seed. It’s made our life, as far as growing beets, way easier. No more hand labor, no more cultivating. We’ve reduced our carbon footprint, sustainability is better.”

Greear noted that the last time a Wyoming Sugar grower was honored at the ASGA was John Schneider in 2011.