BILLINGS (AP) - Some Montana and Wyoming farmers are getting nervous as cold, wet weather is keeping them from bringing in a record sugar beet crop.

Harvest had just begun in earnest late last week but was slowed or grounded to a halt in some places because of the weather.

Much is on the line for sugar growers from Wyoming to extreme northeast Montana who are not only looking at record harvests but also facing the highest market prices for crystal sugar in 30 years. A three-day streak of the coldest early October temperatures in at least 75 years is hampering optimism in the multimillion-dollar regional economy.

With much of the crop still in the ground, the beets can be susceptible to cold temperatures unless protected.

Beets can survive some freeze damage and slightly recover, provided the cold doesn't kill their foliage.

"I'm hoping for a blizzard so we get some snow to cover it up," said Ervin Schlemmer, who farms beets north of Fromberg.

Snow isn't desirable to beet farmers often, but a 4- to 6-inch blanket would insulate area crops from temperatures predicted to drop as low as the single digits in some areas where beets are still in the ground.

"There's a forecast of down to 18 Friday night, which would be tough if it gets that low," Sidney Sugars general manager Steve Sing said.

The Sidney Sugars crop is about 15 percent harvested.

Cal Jones, president of Wyoming Sugar, said about 10 percent of their crop is harvested.

"We just started the first of October," Jones said.

He said some of his farmers in parched areas were able to carry on the harvest, despite receiving an inch or two of snow earlier this week. Other areas received substantially more.