News Sugar beets
British beet growers furious after meager contract offers
Sugar beet growers in England are not happy with the contract that British Sugar has presented them with for the 2024/25 campaign. NFU has been consulting with the only British beet processor for months, but without any results. Reason for British Sugar to try it without support.
For the next harvest year British Sugar growers a fixed price of £38 per tonne of beet at 17% sugar. This equates to €43,55. The company also pays a bonus that is linked to the market price of refined sugar. In the current market, this means a final price of €45,84 per tonne, director Dan Green calculates.
Negotiations stalled
NFU Sugar, which represents the interests of English beet growers, has been talking to the beet processor in the country for months about a new contract. They believe that the contract price should increase significantly due to increased costs and risks, but British Sugar does not agree with this. The company - which is owned by food conglomerate Associated British Foods - says it remains in discussions with NFU. NFU President Michael Sly is not amused about British Sugar's action.
Urgent message sent from Michael Sly, NFU Sugar chair, to all beet growers earlier today.
— NFU Sugar (@NFUSugar) November 1, 2023
We are outraged that British Sugar contacted all growers earlier today and provided growers with a document which asserts to contain details of the 2024/25 Sugar Beet Contract Offer. (1/2)
The growers are also furious about this price. They point to the costs, which have increased by an average of 7% in one year. For the current harvest, the company pays €45,84, without market bonus. The contract price level for next year will therefore even decrease slightly. That can't count on much sympathy.
In addition, the price of white sugar is still at a particularly high level. This despite a significantly improved beet harvest in the European Union. In September, the London futures market reached its highest price level in twelve years. That level of $748 has now almost been reached again.
Cultivation remains profitable
Director Green does not see the problem that way and is undoubtedly encouraged by the fact that the prices of grains and rapeseed have fallen sharply. That still makes beet cultivation attractive. He calls the cultivation contract offered 'one of the most profitable on the farm'. The company remains in discussions with NFU and hopes to reach an agreement. He also says that British Sugar offers frost insurance free of charge and that growers can take out insurance for £1 per tonne if yields are disappointing, for example due to the yellowing virus.
British Sugar has four factories in the east and north-east of England, processing 1,2 million tonnes of sugar beet annually. 2.300 beet growers grow sugar beets for the company.
Niels van der Boom
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