Last week, Cosun Beet Company announced a 10% reduction to 90% of the allocation for the 2026 growing year. Growers who ordered more than 90% of their required acreage in their early beet seed orders may now cancel a limited portion of their order free of charge. The amount of seed that can be canceled is calculated based on the LLBs and the grower's five-year average yield. In practice, this means that a maximum of 10% of the ordered units may be canceled.
Cosun offers the scheme as a service to its members. Some growers see it a bit differently. They would like the ability to more freely adjust the share of beets in their cropping plan, especially now that sugar prices are under pressure, cultivation costs remain high, and expectations for the sugar price for the coming season are less positive. Moreover, the reduction was announced late, limiting growers' options.
Leniency
Some growers believe that a little more leniency for growers who, at Cosun's request, took advantage of the early beet seed order would have been appropriate. Developing a crop rotation plan is always a puzzle. If you initially assumed a 100% allocation, and the plots turn out to be just right, you would have preferred to sow on the generous side, you could now have a problem. With a 90% allocation, you might choose to sow on the tight side, perhaps because it's more convenient. This would leave you with a quantity of seed that you can't cancel.
Several growers argue that Cosun's intention with the seed cancellation scheme is to prioritize preserving acreage and ensuring secure supplies to the factory. "This really puts Cosun in the farmer's shoes," one grower explains. "The interests of the cooperative and its members clash in that sense."