Last 500 hectares in sugar beet harvest

These are the very last stretch with regard to the sugar beet harvest in the Netherlands. At the start of week 2, according to Suiker Unie, there was still an average of 0,5% in the ground, mainly in the regions in the south of the Netherlands.

This means that the Dutch beet growers together still had just under 500 hectares to go this week. Given the reasonable weather conditions, that number is shrinking every day and it is expected that all sugar beets will be out of the ground by the end of the week.

“Next week we will take stock,” says Gert Sikken, director of agricultural affairs at Suiker Unie. “Then we will also know how the carrot yield will be this year, but the expectation is that this will be an average of 83 tons per hectare.” This means that the yield is more than 1 tonne below the five-year average.

Lower sugar content
The sugar yield is also lower than the average in recent years. Sikken: “Last year we still had an average sugar content of over 17%. This year we are stuck on 16,4%. Usually the sugar content increases during the campaign, but that is not the case this year. That is a shame, especially for the growers.”

The main cause of the lower yield is the drought in the growing season. This has particularly affected growers on light soils. “There is no such thing as an average grower”, emphasizes Sikken. “The differences are big this year. Has a grower irrigated or not? What is the variation in basis? Those kinds of factors have a major impact on the yield of this campaign.”

Delivery obligation
In mid-December, Suiker Unie hinted that approximately 850 sugar beet growers may not be meeting their needs this year delivery obligation can meet. That prognosis is unchanged, according to Sikken. “Many growers have responded to this and indicated by means of a motivation why they cannot meet their delivery obligation.” The situation is not expected to lead to many fines, given the drought conditions. “But the Board of Directors must ultimately make a decision about this.”

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

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