News Sugar
Sugar beet sowing date is around the multi-year average
The 2026 sugar beet season starts fairly normally in terms of sowing date. Figures from Cosun show that the national average sowing date this year falls to April 9. This places 2026 clearly later than the very early year of 2025, when sowing took place on average as early as March 26, but well ahead of late years such as 2023 and 2024, in which the sowing date shifted to the end of April.
When the series is examined over several years, it appears that the sowing date usually falls between early April and April 10. Years such as 2019, 2020, and 2021 fall within this range, while weather conditions cause outliers earlier (late March) and later (mid to late April).
De progress of the sowing in 2026 This picture is underscored. The campaign got off to a slow start, visible in the limited area sown at the end of March. By early April, the national percentage was below 30% due to fluctuating weather conditions that hampered fieldwork. Subsequently, a clear catch-up was made: within one week, the sown area rose to over two-thirds, and by mid-April, more than 90% of the area had been covered.
On balance, it can be concluded that 2026 is not a year of concern. Although the average sowing date is slightly later than in an early spring, the pace has been high since then. As a result, the majority of the acreage has been sown within a relatively short time window, which is favorable for uniform crop development.
Few problems
For the time being, there are few problems. Up until the beginning of this week, 130 hectares have been reseeded, particularly in the Zeeland Islands and North and South Holland. A hard crust was the reason for reseeding on most plots. In the past two years, 1.200 to 1.300 hectares were reseeded, mainly due to grazing and wind erosion damage.
At the beginning of this week, 99% of the beets had been sown. In Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the Zeeland Islands, Holland, the Noordoostpolder, and Gelderland, 100% has been sown. Elsewhere, it concerns the last remaining fields. In East Brabant, 3,6% still needed to be sown at the beginning of this week.
John Ramaker
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