2022 Sugar beet price not enough

robbie

Member
BASIS
Same here Robbie, lots of reminders and even a visit from the fieldsman. Apparently the 10% market linked beet would be worth £34/t if prices stayed the same. The whole tonneage should be that price and they wouldn’t have to go round begging for beet.

So the tonnage that isn't market linked could BS market link that themselves and cream £7 a ton on top of there normal profits.

How cynical! 😂
Or could BS not market link the whole tonnage and do the admin for it kind of like a grain pool and split the difference????
They get £3.50 per ton and the grower gets a price in excess of the mythical £30 ton
 

robbie

Member
BASIS
I harvest at 8 kph. Harvest 60 tons per day carting myself from a mile away. My time say £12 per hour for 8 hours. £100 per day. 2 acres a day so £50 an acre. Harvester costs in fuel and spares etc £800 a year so £40 an acre.
So harvesting and carting cost £90 per acre or £3 per tonne for a 30t per acre crop. Harvester depreciation isn’t much at all. Loading probably costs a £1 a tonne.
Costs can fluctuate wildly though. A new back tyre would take half my annual maintenance budget. Rebushing one of those little gearboxes on the the machine didn’t cost a lot in parts but me ages to find the right size bushes etc.
Well being honest the jobs still a goer financially as much as anything ever is in farming with risks etc but do I want that kind of work any more? Plus point, it’s independent, own boss etc. Minus point it’s tiring physically, a bit tedious and drags on all winter so doesn’t fill my time but you can’t really leave the place for long.
6 and half a dozen really but £30 a ton would probably swing it decisively. Ain’t go to happen though is it?
So @Dr wazzock are you growing them again today????
 

Rookie

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincs / Notts
Same here Robbie, lots of reminders and even a visit from the fieldsman. Apparently the 10% market linked beet would be worth £34/t if prices stayed the same. The whole tonneage should be that price and they wouldn’t have to go round begging for beet.
So at the moment if you could lock in 10% of your quota in straight away then you would be £7/t better off than the 1 year deal and wouldn't have to keep monitoring the market throughout the season ?
 

Spud

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
YO62
I harvest at 8 kph. Harvest 60 tons per day carting myself from a mile away. My time say £12 per hour for 8 hours. £100 per day. 2 acres a day so £50 an acre. Harvester costs in fuel and spares etc £800 a year so £40 an acre.
So harvesting and carting cost £90 per acre or £3 per tonne for a 30t per acre crop. Harvester depreciation isn’t much at all. Loading probably costs a £1 a tonne.
Costs can fluctuate wildly though. A new back tyre would take half my annual maintenance budget. Rebushing one of those little gearboxes on the the machine didn’t cost a lot in parts but me ages to find the right size bushes etc.
Well being honest the jobs still a goer financially as much as anything ever is in farming with risks etc but do I want that kind of work any more? Plus point, it’s independent, own boss etc. Minus point it’s tiring physically, a bit tedious and drags on all winter so doesn’t fill my time but you can’t really leave the place for long.
6 and half a dozen really but £30 a ton would probably swing it decisively. Ain’t go to happen though is it?
That's missing out your time on maintenance out of season and the cost of the tractor & trailer, never mind what you could earn if you weren't tied to the boneshaker all winter.

If you can lift 2ac a day, how does it take 3months to lift 20ac?

It costs me similar to you per acre, but we clear 20ac in a good day. I grow 45ac at the moment (used to be 75) so usually three little days a year lifting beet. Hedges cut & ploughed the same day if need be. Contractor harvests, we cart, sweep road, heap up, trim hedges & plough.

It all comes down to how you want to spend your time I suppose.
 

Flat 10

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Fen Edge
I harvest at 8 kph. Harvest 60 tons per day carting myself from a mile away. My time say £12 per hour for 8 hours. £100 per day. 2 acres a day so £50 an acre. Harvester costs in fuel and spares etc £800 a year so £40 an acre.
So harvesting and carting cost £90 per acre or £3 per tonne for a 30t per acre crop. Harvester depreciation isn’t much at all. Loading probably costs a £1 a tonne.
Costs can fluctuate wildly though. A new back tyre would take half my annual maintenance budget. Rebushing one of those little gearboxes on the the machine didn’t cost a lot in parts but me ages to find the right size bushes etc.
Well being honest the jobs still a goer financially as much as anything ever is in farming with risks etc but do I want that kind of work any more? Plus point, it’s independent, own boss etc. Minus point it’s tiring physically, a bit tedious and drags on all winter so doesn’t fill my time but you can’t really leave the place for long.
6 and half a dozen really but £30 a ton would probably swing it decisively. Ain’t go to happen though is it?
£90 acre isn’t far off what a contractor would charge
 

Goffer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Yorkshire
Is this really where things have got too In late November
 

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DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Growing it again. Set in stone now as offer made. Reducing from 20 to 16 acres but keeping same quota of just over 500 tonnes. Not really bothered if I don’t make quota. Near the yard so no real carting issues unlike this year where half is the other side of village. Toying with the idea of ploughing and trying a barley nurse crop as I’ve plenty of spring barley home saved seed, but I reckon it could end up dried out. Or used a furrow press and drill straight in. It was long term grass ley, had winter wheat drilled in it and harvested this year. Only had heavy discs so far, after liming. Was going stubble cultivator in the spring but feel plough and power Harrow and nurse crop would level it out better as it got quite rough while in grass with rabbit holes moles etc.
 
The dosh would sooth the pain.
Not when 6 wheel harvester full 60 ton ,digging 18 inch ruts down the field ,
and you have 360 digging ruts level when trailers tip so its level for the mous ,and quadtrack pushing maus down maus line its that wet ,
our beet man had this last year at a place , twice as much fuel ,and feild fallowed and sorted the next summer ,
your on wrong land for the gamble ,
 

robbie

Member
BASIS
Growing it again. Set in stone now as offer made. Reducing from 20 to 16 acres but keeping same quota of just over 500 tonnes. Not really bothered if I don’t make quota. Near the yard so no real carting issues unlike this year where half is the other side of village. Toying with the idea of ploughing and trying a barley nurse crop as I’ve plenty of spring barley home saved seed, but I reckon it could end up dried out. Or used a furrow press and drill straight in. It was long term grass ley, had winter wheat drilled in it and harvested this year. Only had heavy discs so far, after liming. Was going stubble cultivator in the spring but feel plough and power Harrow and nurse crop would level it out better as it got quite rough while in grass with rabbit holes moles etc.
Plough and press either towing a Flexi coil or a Flexi coil press and drill, job done and no worry about wind blow.
 

Laggard

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Growing it again. Set in stone now as offer made. Reducing from 20 to 16 acres but keeping same quota of just over 500 tonnes. Not really bothered if I don’t make quota. Near the yard so no real carting issues unlike this year where half is the other side of village. Toying with the idea of ploughing and trying a barley nurse crop as I’ve plenty of spring barley home saved seed, but I reckon it could end up dried out. Or used a furrow press and drill straight in. It was long term grass ley, had winter wheat drilled in it and harvested this year. Only had heavy discs so far, after liming. Was going stubble cultivator in the spring but feel plough and power Harrow and nurse crop would level it out better as it got quite rough while in grass with rabbit holes moles etc.
Spring barley meant to help reduce aphids and virus yellows apparently, you right it could dry it out though.
 

teslacoils

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Not when 6 wheel harvester full 60 ton ,digging 18 inch ruts down the field ,
and you have 360 digging ruts level when trailers tip so its level for the mous ,and quadtrack pushing maus down maus line its that wet ,
our beet man had this last year at a place , twice as much fuel ,and feild fallowed and sorted the next summer ,
your on wrong land for the gamble ,

Been there, got the t shirt. CFA land. Beer had to be out by 16 October. Well, was the year it rained from 1st October. They got it out. Was like the Somme. Huge crop. Was back end 2013.

Wasn't a cheap job putting the tracks back. Tore up the mud with a ctyne drag to get to the dry. Kept dragging it until it would drill. Wheat went in mid December.

And that still wasn't as bad as lifting it in 2007. Now that made a mess.
 

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Heathland

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Is this really where things have got too In late November
Lot of my neighbours who got out,who all said they couldn't make it pay,decided to make a quick buck when BS were tempting them back with big rents.
Lets just say they'll NEVER do it again.
BS left it in the ground for as long as possible to bulk up,the contractor rocked up just before Xmas,and it was horrific the mess they made,due to nobody else wanting to lift at the time due to it being so wet,but BS had it all planned so it had to have it.
I wonder who they'll sucker in this time.
RIP M&J Haulage.
God they cannot even maintain Newark factory out of season, so beet growers are carrying the can.......... yet again.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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