Sugar beet growers still have a third of their sugar beets to harvest, according to an estimate from the processing company Cosun.
Cosun's two factories had already processed more than half of the beets from this campaign by early this week. Nationally, 35% of the beets were still in the ground at the beginning of the week. At that point, about 70% had already been harvested on clay soil, and 55% on sandy soil. The processor is warning growers to be aware of possible night frost.
In terms of sugar content, there won't be much change this campaign. Last week, the national average was back to 17,4% sugar, but that's not much different from previous weeks. The average for the entire campaign is 17,3%.
The southwest of the country continues to score very well in terms of sugar content, with levels of 18% and higher. North Holland Central is the bottom of the list this year, averaging just 16,6% sugar. Southern Flevoland and Liemers/Oude IJssel are doing only slightly better, averaging 16,7% sugar this campaign.
The tare percentage remains below 10% in most places. North Holland Central also stands out negatively here, with a tare percentage of 13,8% last week. Beets in Limburg Central and De Peel have the lowest tare percentage, averaging less than 6% this campaign.