Many sugar beets are still in the ground

Sugar beets for late deliveries are currently only being harvested in a sparse manner. The cause is the persistent wet weather conditions. Suiker Unie writes that 39% is still in the ground and that the tare content is increasing.

According to the weather forecast, a dry period will now follow and that is more than welcome. In several regions it still takes a lot of effort to get all beets harvested in time for delivery. On sandy soils in the north of the country, growers still have the biggest job to do, because there is still 49% of the beets in the soil. At 25%, this percentage is lowest on the northern clay soils.

Varying tare levels
The wet weather also causes varying tare percentages. The heavy rainfall on the beet heap does not help with this. Sugar Union signals an increasing tare percentage across the board. In the first week of the campaign, this was an average of 8,4%, which is low, although the percentage has now risen to 13,3%. In the Haarlemmermeer, even 19,1% is noted.

The beet campaign started in September sweet start† In the first week, the average sugar content was 15,9%. In the weeks that followed, that percentage increased slightly. Suiker Unie has now reported that the level hardly changes. Last week a percentage of 16,5% was reported. The highest percentage comes from Goeree-Overflakkee (17%), while the regions of Graafschap/Achterhoek and Midden-Brabant (clay) have to settle for 15,6%.

Temperature beet heap
Suiker Unie advises growers to use non-woven fabric. "Research shows that this has a positive effect on the quality of the beets and the tare content after storage, compared to uncovered storage." The course of the temperature during storage is monitored with sensors in beet heaps. 60 sensors are available for this, which will be placed in storage heaps throughout the Netherlands in the coming weeks. The temperature course can online be followed.

Jeanette Pennings

Jeannet has her roots in the flower bulb sector and she grew up on an agricultural company in the northern part of North Holland. As a generalist she reports for Boerenbusiness across all sectors. She is also exploring the possibilities of sponsored advertising.

j.pennings@boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.