Sugar Beet News

NFU Sugar and British Sugar have concluded negotiations and agreed a deal for the 2026/27 sugar beet contract.

As a sugar beet grower, you know how crucial it is to get the right start for your crop. A good germination rate, fast and even emergence, and strong establishment can take beet from a mediocre yield to a bumper harvest.

Sugar beet growers who would like to learn about the domestic sugar supply chain and gain skills to advocate for the industry have been invited to sign up for the 2025/26 Sugar Industry Programme. 

A sugar beet seed calculator has just been launched by the provider of innovative seed technology solutions, Germains. 

Latest resistance testing of samples collected in 2024 across Europe indicates that most grassweeds are largely susceptible to clethodim, a key herbicide for oilseed rape and sugar beet. However, resistance is present in some UK populations.  

An emergency authorisation to use the insecticide Coragen on the 2025 sugar beet crop has been granted by HSE.

Specialist breeder Strube discusses advances in virus yellows tolerance.

British Sugar has partnered with York-based agri-tech company AgriSound to launch a pioneering pollinator monitoring project. 

Sugar beet remains a significant and reliable break crop delivering increased yields despite the increasingly extreme climate events, say breeders SesVanderHave and Hilleshög.

Ahead of Cereals Event 2025, SESVanderHave announced that UK sugar beet growers can now buy seed direct from its plant breeders as well as access the latest genetics together with a wide range of seed treatments.

A substantial 50,000 tonnes of Scope 1 carbon emissions are set to be removed from Wissington’s sugar beet factory footprint thanks to a record-breaking investment of £43 million into a new steam drying project, British Sugar confirmed.

Change has arrived for British sugar beet growers, providing access to a wider choice of varieties, the latest genetics plus a choice of seed treatment – all available direct from the plant breeder.