News Sugar beets
Beet campaign has a sweet start
After the first campaign week, Suiker Unie can draw up the balance sheet for the first 250.000 tons of sugar beet that has been delivered. The weekly average amounts to a sugar content of 15,9%. This is relatively sweet and similar to last year. The tare content is low at 8%. The recoverability is average.
Suiker Unie has not yet received enough beets from all regions to make a full statement. The batches are also very variable and the sugar percentages fluctuate between 14% and more than 17%. With a percentage of 16,8%, Walcheren supplied beets with the most sugar. At 14,7%, this percentage was the lowest on the sandy soil of Drenthe.
Varying tares
A tare percentage of 8,4% on average is low (for comparison; 2017 started at 10,3%), but higher than the 6,5% in 2018. As can be expected, the sugar beets from the heavy clay soil are significantly dirtier. than in the sand regions. The percentages range from 5,3% to a maximum of 17,6%, which is an extreme outlier.
Suiker Unie is less pleased with the extractability (WIN number), although it is close to 2018. The quality is mediocre, so writes the. The nitrogen and sodium content is higher, which is the result of the irregular growth. Plots that have suffered from the drought and have started to grow again after the rain clearly show this picture.
yellowing disease
The company also notes that yellowing disease and leaf fungi have an effect on quality. The plots that have not been sprayed in particular have to deal with considerable damage. This leaves the sugar content behind. Yellowing disease is observed throughout the country. This is particularly noticeable in the south-west and plots of up to 30% have been affected. In these yellowed spots, the sugar content decreases by more than 1,5%. Suiker Unie expects a greater variation in sugar levels as a result.
The beet campaign started on Friday 6 September in Dinteloord and on 10 September in Vierverlaten. The campaign is expected to last until January 25 next year. Sugar beet is now also processed in many other places. For example, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise has started processing in Belgium and British Sugar at 2 of their factories in the United Kingdom.
Niels van der Boom
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