News Sugar beets
Beet harvest almost finished
At the start of 2025, almost 800 hectares of sugar beets still had to be harvested in the Netherlands. This was reported by Cosun Beet Company. The beet processor calls for timely harvesting of the beets. With possible frost on the way, it is also time to cover in time.
Not all beet growers and contractors have been idle between Christmas and New Year. About half of the remaining beet area has been harvested. Before Christmas, 1.700 hectares still had to be harvested. On January 1, that was almost 800 hectares.
One to two weeks processing
Growers in the south still have a week to deliver their beets. The factory in Dinteloord is expected to stop on Friday 10 January. In Hoogkerk, processing will continue for another week, until 19 January. At the end of December, more than a million tonnes of beets still had to be processed.
In the last week of 2024, the average sugar content was 16,3%. The percentages have been stable for about six weeks, although there are fluctuations between regions. With 17%, Walcheren and Texel farmers delivered the sweetest beets. With 15,3 and 15,4%, the sugar content in the Achterhoek and South Limburg was the lowest.
Tarra creeps up
The tare percentages logically increased slightly at the end of last year. In the last week of December the average was 13,2%. A clear difference between the clay and sandy soils is visible. On the island of Dordrecht and the Central Brabant clay area the percentage was 20,3 and 18,4%. On Texel it was only 9,3% and the South-East Netherlands does not get much further than 9% either.
Cosun also warns of possible (night) frost, although the uncertainty is increasing. The latest weather models show increasingly warmer weather for the beginning of next week. There may be light night frost at night. In addition, there will be a lot of rain and the situation is very different from the beginning of last year. Then, 6% of the area (3.400 hectares) still had to be harvested and there were quite a few frost beets due to light and moderate frost.
Niels van der Boom
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