Sugar Beet

As the sun rose on a hot September morning, the Bury St Edmunds British Sugar factory was busy at work. A constant stream of lorries, carrying the very first harvested sugar beet deliveries of the season, piled the sugar beet high across the open courtyard, witnessed by Farmers Guide.

As this year’s sugar beet campaign gets into full swing, and growers are planning crop rotations for next year, British Sugar has announced its current offer for the 2024/25 year, plus a ‘market-linked bonus’.

Developed specifically for the UK, Xbeet enrich 300 has been shown to deliver consistent yield increases in trials and on farm.

The sugar industry are ready to accept applicants for the latest Sugar Industry Programme taking place through the sugar beet campaign. The course is for those who grow sugar beet and would be interested to learn what happens on the inside of the sugar industry.

With British Sugar recently announcing their factory opening dates, many farmers and haulage companies are preparing to transport sugar beet to the factories this autumn. Keeping farmers and industry workers safe is a key topic right now, here are some important things to consider regarding vehicle load safety and security.

British Sugar has announced this autumn’s factory start dates for its 2023/24 sugar beet processing campaign.

Following reports of peach-potato aphids caught in traps across the sugar beet growing area, farmers are being advised to monitor aphid numbers closely and treat non-Cruiser protected crops with a foliar insecticide as soon as thresholds are met.

Farmers who have become used to drilling sugar beet in March have had to readjust this spring. The wettest March for 40 years delayed sugar beet drilling well into April on all but the lightest land. Growers must adapt their herbicide programmes accordingly, urges crop protection manufacturer UPL.

Defra has approved an emergency temporary authorisation for the use of a neonicotinoid pesticide treatment to this year’s sugar beet crop, due to the risk from yellows viruses.

As temperatures start to climb again with warnings of an August heatwave, interim results from this season’s Quantis sugar beet trials indicate the biostimulant treatments are helping crops to better cope with adverse effects of heat.

Sencrop has worked with the British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO) to develop an agronomic indicator for Cercospora in sugar beet which is now being widely used.

NFU Sugar and British Sugar have announced a beet price of £40 per tonne for the 2023/24 sugar beet contract year, which represents a 48% price increase on last year.