Early but staggered start to the beet campaign
The sugar beet campaign will have a staggered start this year. The sugar factories will start production on 6 September in Dinteloord and on 10 September in Anklam and Groningen. Logistically, a staggered start to the campaign is better because the yield forecasts differ significantly from region to region. The campaign has started relatively early because of the low sugar stocks in the silos. New sugar will now be available when it is needed. The campaign will last for about 19 weeks.
Suiker Unie expects the beet harvest to average out at 84 tonnes of beet per hectare, yielding some 14 tonnes of sugar. This is less than the average yield per hectare in the past five years. In total, the sugar beet crop is projected at approximately 6.9 million tonnes.
There are significant differences in the beet crop from region to region. In the clay soils of the southwest, west, central and north Netherlands, the beet are generally in reasonable condition. In the southwest of the country in particular, however, there are signs of infection with the beet western yellow virus, up to as much as 20% of the area of some fields. In the lighter soils of the southeast, east and northeast Netherlands, the beet were affected by the drought in the summer.