2022 Sugar beet price not enough

[DrWazzock]

You’ve finally, finally decided...??
I’m still tied into 1 more year on about 75% of my contract. Probably reduce area for next year if I get a fair bit ‘c’ beet and put field in with spring barley instead.

Yes final final decision. Looked at a few newer second hand harvesters but with machinery prices as they are at the minute it would take us years to get that cost back.
Small farm, simplifying it so we close the gate early October, open it again early March. Other job during the winter. Simpler the better for us.

 

[alomy75]

Yes final final decision. Looked at a few newer second hand harvesters but with machinery prices as they are at the minute it would take us years to get that cost back.
Small farm, simplifying it so we close the gate early October, open it again early March. Other job during the winter. Simpler the better for us.

What winter job out of interest?

 

[thorpe]

This is our last harvest. Finally decided. Harvester worn out and can’t justify replacing it or getting contractors in for 20 acres.
Some sadness but a heck of a lot of relief as well. It’s always been a bit of a battle from start to finish. A long slog into ever worsening conditions. Won’t miss it, but good luck to those carrying on.

you wont regret it at all , i dont!

 

[Daniel]

you wont regret it at all , i dont!

What crops do you grow instead?

 

[DrWazzock]

What winter job out of interest?

Warehouse work, spud grading, driving for other people, fencing work etc. Plenty of work about. I also have a backlog of drainage work to clear here and the combine needs a good going over. Would be really really nice to comfortably clear all the little jobs that always get left due to endless farming operations.
Pea soup fog here this morning, beet field getting stickier and stickier, hauling it along a fast ‘A’ road back to yard, idiot drivers, mud on road etc, factory slow taking it in so it drags on and on, lorry arriving at random in the midst of it often after dark. People arriving with three ton trailers for a bit of stock feed. Here on my own carting and harvesting, loading and heaping up. It really is tiresome for what maybe £3k profit at most on 20 acres taking 4 months to shift 750 tons a row at time clatting about in blather.
I’ve had enough.

 

[DrWazzock]

Don’t let my circumstances colour other people’s judgement though. I don’t actually think the price is bad especially if cereals are a blip.
Personally I’m at the fag end of a ‘70’s harvesting system so it’s a personal decision. If I had the infrastructure and size and easier land I’d probably carry on with contractors. Wouldn’t get rich but it’s a useful break and who knows where cereals prices will go.

 

[teslacoils]

Warehouse work, spud grading, driving for other people, fencing work etc. Plenty of work about. I also have a backlog of drainage work to clear here and the combine needs a good going over. Would be really really nice to comfortably clear all the little jobs that always get left due to endless farming operations.
Pea soup fog here this morning, beet field getting stickier and stickier, hauling it along a fast ‘A’ road back to yard, idiot drivers, mud on road etc, factory slow taking it in so it drags on and on, lorry arriving at random in the midst of it often after dark. People arriving with three ton trailers for a bit of stock feed. Here on my own carting and harvesting, loading and heaping up. It really is tiresome for what maybe £3k profit at most on 20 acres taking 4 months to shift 750 tons a row at time clatting about in blather.
I’ve had enough.

Well done. I know for many beet is "personal" but BS have been relying on this for ages.

 

[alomy75]

Don’t let my circumstances colour other people’s judgement though. I don’t actually think the price is bad especially if cereals are a blip.
Personally I’m at the fag end of a ‘70’s harvesting system so it’s a personal decision. If I had the infrastructure and size and easier land I’d probably carry on with contractors. Wouldn’t get rich but it’s a useful break and who knows where cereals prices will go.

I don’t blame you at all; I’m at least cutting my cte by 50% after next year to easier blocks of land that don’t involve a road haul and have zero involvement by me only to put the field right after. But in these times of soil protection and carbon sequestering I think Beet’s days are numbered.

 

[DrWazzock]

There isn’t a field here that you can drill beet in without covering some very sticky clay. We have been sectioning those patches off and only drilling on the easier soils. But you end up with a patchwork of bits and bobs of barley round the beet. This situation isn’t helped by the inflexibility of having to grow a to a fixed tonnage. So it will be much simpler next year. No field divided up. As I say if we had consistently light soils, free draining it would be an easier crop but we’ve pushed as far as we can here without the effort and general overall aggravation being just not worth it.
Anyway, better get a bit more. That’s the back wheel changeover done after opening up.

 

[Hindsight]

There isn’t a field here that you can drill beet in without covering some very sticky clay. We have been sectioning those patches off and only drilling on the easier soils. But you end up with a patchwork of bits and bobs of barley round the beet. This situation isn’t helped by the inflexibility of having to grow a to a fixed tonnage. So it will be much simpler next year. No field divided up. As I say if we had consistently light soils, free draining it would be an easier crop but we’ve pushed as far as we can here without the effort and general overall aggravation being just not worth it.
Anyway, better get a bit more. That’s the back wheel changeover done after opening up.

I still think that when ELMS finally appears you will find a special payment section for 'working farm museums' and that Cyclone will rise again like a Pheonix!

 

[thorpe]

What crops do you grow instead?

fodder beet, more osr, grass legume option.

 

[teslacoils]

Continuous wheat. Continuous barley. Fallow even if all the work only makes £3k at the end of that.

 

[D14]

Got a friend 10 miles from the factory and he's fed up with it so this is his last one. They've lost 150 acres off him.

 

[DrWazzock]

We will continue with a couple of acres of fodder beet for the sheep if we need it. Otherwise grass, OSR and beans in the rotation with wheat and barley. Beans did well this year. Cleared in two days, loaded in 2 hours. Nay bother.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

What winter job out of interest?

Driving a beet harvester.

 

[Goffer]

Declined any future contract for next year . It had been a swinging pendulum for a while even till this morning when I found out a close neighbour has jumped back @£27 after 18 yrs absence . It was the final straw to drop it .

 

[robbie]

There's a odd one or two I know of around here who've jumped back in but there's more who have given them up that say 27 still isn't enough and won't grow them.

I'm in a dilemma as my fields for next year work out wrong and with average yields I will be way over quota. The easy option is to take in more tonnage for next year but I begrudge doing that as that will only make BS think that there mediocre offer is good enough. I may grow some fodder beet or bung a part field into spring barley and say sod BS

 

[thorpe]

There's a odd one or two I know of around here who've jumped back in but there's more who have given them up that say 27 still isn't enough and won't grow them.

I'm in a dilemma as my fields for next year work out wrong and with average yields I will be way over quota. The easy option is to take in more tonnage for next year but I begrudge doing that as that will only make BS think that there mediocre offer is good enough. I may grow some fodder beet or bung a part field into spring barley and say sod BS

yup sod bs!

 

[DrWazzock]

The thing that gets me is that I remember when the price was £30 or more perhaps some 40 years ago. It’s also a psychological thing when a 30 tonne wagon load isn’t anywhere near £1000 yet. You look at the amount of beet in that wagon and it’s a few hundred quid. It might run to three nights in a hotel in Harrogate. If it was £1000 a load you’d feel you were getting somewhere. It’s not worth the aggravation, wear and tear and general hassle.

 

[DrWazzock]

The other thing on my mind is that fodder beet or sugar beet was always considered 20% of the price of feed barley. That should put beet st £40 per tonne which is where I would say it should be considering it’s for human consumption, RT accredited etc. Anyway I’m out. So it’s academic now.