CBS: Above average sugar beet harvest in 2022

The above-average yield emerges from the provisional arable harvest estimate from Statistics Netherlands. According to the figures, the total yield of sugar beets this year is 7,1 million tons, which is considerably higher than in other years. The average yield over the last 10 years is 6,4 million tons. However, this year it is not a record yield, which was achieved in 2017 with 8 million tons of sugar beets.

High yield in the field
The above-average yield has been achieved by the tons that have grown and less by the area. The sugar beet area increased this year by 1.000 hectares to 81.700 hectares, an increase of 1,3% compared to last year. The area has fluctuated around 80.000 hectares in recent years.

Despite the drought and heat of this season, the yield in the field is estimated to be significantly higher than in recent years. Statistics Netherlands estimates the yield per hectare for this year at 87,2 tons of sugar beets. That is an increase of 7,4% compared to 2021 and the highest yield per hectare ever after 2017 and 2014.

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Sugar content drops
Cosun Beet Company has not (yet) announced any estimates for 2022 yields this season. The company does announce the progress of the beet campaign every week. The latest figures show that the average sugar content in the 6^e week of the beet campaign has fallen from 16,9% to 16,6%. Last week, sugar levels of 17,5% or higher were measured in the northern and eastern regions. These have fallen slightly in recent days to approximately 17%, causing the national average to drop. In the rest of the Netherlands, the levels remain virtually the same despite some fluctuations.

The favorable harvesting conditions make it possible to harvest plenty of beets, meaning that field supplies are more than sufficient at the moment. The average tare percentage has increased from 9,0% to 9,6%.