'It is still unclear how big damage is in beets'

The Raffinerie Tirlemontoise has done the first sampling of the beets in Belgium. This shows that there are 17 tons fewer beets per hectare under the plants compared to last year. The situation is also worrying in the Netherlands, but exact details are not yet known.

In Belgium, there are approximately 47 tons of beets per hectare in the ground, which is more than 17 tons less than last year. This means that production is almost 2.000 kilos of sugar per hectare lower than last year. However, the sugar content per tuber is high; almost 18,76%, compared to 2017% in 16,63.

In addition, the leaf mass is very small. Gert Sikken, director of Suiker Unie, states that this data is highly selective. Also, the fine print shows that the trial was a little earlier than in other years.

Big differences
Suiker Unie does not yet have quantitative data for the Netherlands. "It is very difficult to get a representative picture of the Netherlands," says Sikken. "We have a lot of plots, but the differences between the plots are very large."

Sikken does indicate that the damage is evident. "However, that also differs greatly. For example, on the lighter soil, the damage is very clear, while we still see considerable plots on clay. And there the reels also rotate."

Worrying situation
Sikken hopes to come up with more detailed data next week. The director finds the situation worrying, because arable farmers incur high costs (for example through irrigation) and they have to deal with lower yields. "However, a lower yield in a crowded sugar market does limit the damage somewhat," says Sikken.

It was previously decided that the the countryside will start later, but the exact period is not yet known. Sikken also wants to be careful about that. "We first need to have all the data clearly mapped out."

Rain will be beneficial in the end
Jurgen Maassen of IRS sees differences between breeds. "That is only above ground. It is still unclear how it is underground." According to Maassen, any rain will dilute the (still) high sugar concentration. "The water will initially be used for regrowth of the leaf apparatus. However, it will subsequently invest in the sugar content of the beet again."

Maassen recommends irrigating when the foliage does not rise in the morning. If the crop sleeps during the day, this is not immediately negative. That's just protection against excessive evaporation.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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