New York state is known for producing the most yogurt, cottage cheese and sour cream of any state in the U.S. But there’s a vegetable that – while not everyone’s favorite – is also No. 1 out of the Empire State.

“Every five years there’s a Census of Agriculture, and in 2022, lo and behold, New York harvested more acres of beets than any other state,” said Julie Kikkert, a vegetable crops specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Cornell Vegetable Program.

Producing 22.2% of the U.S. crop, New York beat out Wisconsin’s beet acreage. The root of the surge: a heady mix of the state’s strong agricultural history, climate and soil suitability in the western part of the state; processing demand; and innovations in technology and new varieties. Many of the state’s largest processors – including Seneca Foods in Livingston County and Love Beets in Rochester – have long-standing relationships with Cornell researchers, sharing information and seeking advice.

“We’ve done projects with Cornell to look at camera technology to help with forecasting, using drones to fly over fields to understand diseases and yields,” said John Henderson, product director at Love Beets. He said the company has worked with researchers in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in some of their trials in order to improve plant health, the growing environment and even the flavor of beet varieties.

“Working with Julie and the extension team has been invaluable – it’s been a steep learning curve in the U.S.,” he said of the company, which began in England and relaunched in the U.S. in 2010.

In a nation where “Eat your beets!” has been a dreaded parental directive, the popularity of the root vegetable has risen, with fresh and ready-to-eat options gaining ground. Mark Dewey, principal at Dewey Produce in Genesee County, attributes some of that to the rise of Food Network and some to the increasing popularity of farmers markets.

“Back in the 1970s, beets were grown somewhere between Yates, Ontario and Genesee counties. It was all pretty much for canning,” he said. “Now people are singing the praises of beets from a nutritional standpoint. You see them in sports drinks, and in products like Super Beets and different supplements. Beets are in vogue.”

Kikkert said beet varieties these days are bred for eating fresh, with new colors, more sweetness and a less earthy taste.

And while the climate in New York is good for these root vegetables, weeds are still a huge issue, as are root rots and foliar diseases caused by fungi.

A fungal disease called Cercospora leaf spot causes ugly leaves on beets sold into the fresh market, said Sarah Pethybridge, associate professor of plant pathology and plant-microbe biology at Cornell AgriTech. It can also defoliate the plants, impacting the ability of a mechanical harvester to pull the vegetables from the soil by their tops, she said. Cornell researchers are working with UV light to suppress the leaf spot fungus, using drone images to spot-treat infected plants rather than spraying entire fields. These light treatments may be used in conventional beet production as well as in organic systems where synthetic fungicides are not permitted.

Pethybridge said climate change is bringing more turbulence to the growing season and presenting new challenges.

Dewey echoed that sentiment.

"What we've seen in the last 10 years is the weather is warmer and a lot more intense from the standpoint of storms," he said. "Beet seedlings are not very vigorous. At times, it seems like the seedlings would rather die than make it. Managing moisture is extremely important during planting and emergence of the beet seedlings," he said. 

They aren't planted very deep, he said, so you want the soil nice and moist. Commercial beet production compacts the soil. When the beets are harvested, nearly all of the surface of the beet field is run over by either a harvester, tractor, dump cart or truck. Growing beets one year on a field and then followed by five years of other rotational crops is necessary to help mitigate the soil compaction and reduce the accumulation of pathogens in the soil that are detrimental to beets, Dewey said. 

Cornell researchers are also working on additional “value-added” product options for New York growers. Chang Chen, an assistant professor of food science at Cornell AgriTech, began work on microwave vacuum-dried beet chips, a project that started as a Summer Research Scholars project in 2024 and has continued this year.

“We are targeting the better-for-you snack market. A lot of the snacks out there are fried or baked, making them calorie-dense and not so healthy,” Chen said. “We use a vacuum chamber that is equipped with magnetrons that are 10 times stronger than home microwave ovens. The microwaves penetrate the food, causing volumetric heating, which allows the moisture to evaporate quickly and the beet slices to puff. We can make crispy 100% beet slices with natural flavor, no added sugar or oil.”

The project is at the research stage, and Chen said they’re working with industry to gauge feasibility and see who’s interested in pursuing this low-calorie, moderately processed snack.

With products like this, and new tech in the field, New York’s beet goes on.