Experience is key when growing sugar beet

Rising input costs and challenging world markets make experience a vital tool for sugar beet growers planning for the coming 2023 season, writes Ian Munnery.

Sugar beet has been a staple part of farm rotations in this region for decades. For many, it is an ideal break crop, allowing growers to address the menace of blackgrass. It also enables farmers to spread the annual workload.

Sugar beet is also a crop for which you know you will be paid. But the current economic squeeze is not a time for experimenting. Rather, it is a time to apply your experience – and that of your supplier.

As a global plant breeder, SesVanderHave has a wealth of experience gained in developing new sugar beet varieties across the world. In the UK, that expertise is refined and focused on meeting the needs of UK growers. 

By the time a SesVanderHave variety enters the UK market, it will have undergone extensive testing across all the main sugar beet areas – each with their different soil types and climate variations over ten years.

This strategy enables us to be confident that our varieties will perform robustly and reliably  regardless of the season when it comes to key characteristics such as root yield, sugar content and bolting.

Wren is a long-established variety with a proven track record over several seasons of commercial use. Similarly, Lacewing is an established variety choice where there may be an issue with beet cyst nematode. 

Adder and Tawny are the latest SesVanderHave varieties to come to the market. These too have been grown and tested in the UK for years – not just in small-plot trials using specially prepared seed, but using commercially produced and pelleted seed.

These varieties emerged well in 2020 and 2021 – despite low temperatures and drought conditions. You are welcome to see our latest trials too – whether as an individual grower, or a group of farmers. It ensures our research remains tuned to your needs.