Sugar beet margins in the UK have fallen due to lower yields and the ban on neonicotinoids

The decline in sugar beet yields and the lack of neonicotinoid seed treatments in England next year have left the sector in a state of uncertainty, writes Farmers Weekly. It is noted that the yield of sugar beet in the UK has fallen to a net weight of 73.2t/ha for the 2024-25 season, which is 6.2t/ha less than the previous year. Keith Papworth, chairman of NFU Sugar (National Sugar Farmers Union), said that after a shorter campaign this year, sugar content had improved, but yields were not as high as expected due to adverse weather, particularly in the Midlands. “We have quite a low average yield, the potential of this crop is somewhere around 150-200t/ha. There are producers who consistently produce 120t/ha, but if the national five-year average is 71.98t/ha, we have a lot to work on,” he said. British Sugar, the UK’s sole sugar beet processor and producing up to 1.2m tonnes of sugar each year, confirmed that it had contracts in place for around 95,000ha for the 2025-26 ...