Beet '22

[alomy75]

not really...going at only approx 2/3 av daily slice at mo

those completed tonnages are pretty low considering factories been going 3+ months and only 6 weeks til March

question for you guys is this year will you lift earlier and clamp?....like we did in days of yore

I’m cutting my contract in half and only having one lift in October… anyone looked at the small print of the yield protection insurance yet? ‘At British sugar’s discretion’ being a particularly concerning phrase for me! and capped at £300/ha if everyone does it. If that happens a quick calc suggested it will cost me 2000 and if it pays out will pay 6000…hmmmm

 

[Flatland guy]

My view regarding the yield protection is that is a self funding insurance policy only designed to pay out small pockets due to pest/disease/ weather etc not a national policy. If everyone took up the scheme and all the criteria was met, British sugar would only pay for 5.6tonnes of beet /hectare @38.50 if you allow for what goes in being deducted £1.50/tonne. The phrase that kept being worded differently in the pack was provides a payment at the discretion of British sugar of a grower's 2023/24 contract tonnage entitlement(CTE) or their five year average multiplies by area sown, which ever is lower. Another statement was capped at 80% of growers area. Then another statement was pay out up to 80% growers area.
All designed to mislead. according to the cap(£300/hectare) if I have a five year average of 80tonnes/hectare, 80% of that is 64tonnes/hectare if I only harvested 55tonnes per hectare, the cap would only provide an additional 5.6tonnes to the hectare bearing in mind I had foregone £1.50 on the existing 55 tonnes/hectare(this assumes it is a national poor yield/disaster) It depends on your level of risk what to do best for your business, I viewed it as crumbs if I do get a poor yield/disaster for that year an effectively 5.6 tonnes/hectare will not make a deal of difference to the figures.

 

[Daniel]

All into the factory, best of luck to those still going.

Ended up at 89.5% of quota.

Best yield was 86.6/t/ha lifted mid November at 17.2% sugar, 4.4% dirt.

Worst was the first lifted poorly established field at about 62t/ha dirty, 68t adjusted, very high sugars, up to 18.69%, most of the early lifted stuff was poorly established in the dry spring, it was probably as much of a yield hit as the frost in the end.

By the end (what had looked the best field all year) we were 84t/ha dirty and 74.4t/ha adjusted.

Beet moth had come in on the last field by December, it was a big 70 acre field lifted in 4 goes due to the frost, yields were declining due to regrowth from the moth before the frost came in December, a shame as it was a stonking field of beet after all that sunshine.

 

[Farmerdunk]

New to beet growing here. The contractors turned up yesterday and made a start. Crop looked really well until the hot dry summer kicked in. Then the cold snap in December has hit it hard. They are taking a fair chunk off the top to try and get as much frost damage as possible but obviously trying not to take off to much. Reckon about 20%. Is there anyway of calculating how much is in the ground before the harvester tops it? Dig a square metre from a few places?? Thanks

 

[GOODYSMATE]

Never had to cut beet up, only machine we have is this -

View attachment 1088970
Will it work? Go diagonaly?

Not sure with tines ,i think the tines will pull beet out and they will then just go between the disc like marbles and wont get chopped ,i think just discs so ground hold them in place and allow the disc to chop ,just my view. We grow beet and ones on surface go though my plough and then combination drill and still come out the back in one piece

 

[alomy75]

New to beet growing here. The contractors turned up yesterday and made a start. Crop looked really well until the hot dry summer kicked in. Then the cold snap in December has hit it hard. They are taking a fair chunk off the top to try and get as much frost damage as possible but obviously trying not to take off to much. Reckon about 20%. Is there anyway of calculating how much is in the ground before the harvester tops it? Dig a square metre from a few places?? Thanks

Assuming you’re on 50cm rows; dig a 2m length of a typical row; weigh and multiply by 10000 will give you kg/ha (assuming you weigh in kg and not fathoms, Guineas, chains or whatever else my old chap seems to want to work in!)
Fairly crude though; harvester will probably chop the tap root off and take some soil/stones up too.

 

[robbie]

Assuming you’re on 50cm rows; dig a 2m length of a typical row; weigh and multiply by 10000 will give you kg/ha (assuming you weigh in kg and not fathoms, Guineas, chains or whatever else my old chap seems to want to work in!)
Fairly crude though; harvester will probably chop the tap root off and take some soil/stones up too.

I think that's how BS do there test digs.

 

[e3120]

Not sure with tines ,i think the tines will pull beet out and they will then just go between the disc like marbles and wont get chopped ,i think just discs so ground hold them in place and allow the disc to chop ,just my view. We grow beet and ones on surface go though my plough and then combination drill and still come out the back in one piece

Glad someone who actually grows beet has the same thought as me. Luckily that machine looks as if the front bit will detach after an application of swearing.

 

[Farmerdunk]

Assuming you’re on 50cm rows; dig a 2m length of a typical row; weigh and multiply by 10000 will give you kg/ha (assuming you weigh in kg and not fathoms, Guineas, chains or whatever else my old chap seems to want to work in!)
Fairly crude though; harvester will probably chop the tap root off and take some soil/stones up too.

Yes pretty sure on 50cm rows. We dug 2 separate 1m square of beet from different areas of the field. In total it came to 26kg. Presume that Would that give the same result from digging a 4m strip?

 

[spin cycle]

will frosted beet shoot green leaves out of the top?

 

[alomy75]

Yes pretty sure on 50cm rows. We dug 2 separate 1m square of beet from different areas of the field. In total it came to 26kg. Presume that Would that give the same result from digging a 4m strip?

Yep so you’ve got 13kg per m2; x10,000= 130000kg/ha or 130t/ha. So 1m square would be 2 rows by 1m length? If you took 3 rows (which would measure 1m wide) by 1m long that’s actually 1.5m2 which might explain the very high yield?

 

[alomy75]

will frosted beet shoot green leaves out of the top?

Yep at the expense of sugar %. If it’s really really frosted it will just go brown/black with no regrowth.

 

[DrWazzock]

We chucked about 20 ton of beet back on the field surface sorted out of loads due to violet root rot. Obviously the frost killed them (which is what I wanted) and the sheep have actually kept going on them fairly well for a month without seeming to suffer any ill effects. They have ad lib hay but have also kept nibbling the soft mushy blackened beet and they still have reasonable body condition. Never seem hungry. So at least we’ve gained a couple of months of keep. Moving them off soon though as they’ve had the best of it and there’s turnips need eating before they go woody.
Really feel for you guys but at least there’s the insurance. For me it’s not the monetary loss that hits hardest but the waste. But anyway, the nutrients will still be there and organic matter must be increased so it’s maybe not as bad as it seems. Still quite a few fields round here unharvested and look unlikely to be.
£40 a ton next year must sugar it a fair bit and this winter will have killed the aphids. Everything to play for.

 

[Ramrod]

New to beet growing here. The contractors turned up yesterday and made a start. Crop looked really well until the hot dry summer kicked in. Then the cold snap in December has hit it hard. They are taking a fair chunk off the top to try and get as much frost damage as possible but obviously trying not to take off to much. Reckon about 20%. Is there anyway of calculating how much is in the ground before the harvester tops it? Dig a square metre from a few places?? Thanks

You can do all the calculations you like, it won't alter the weighbridge and sampling procedure, which is what you're paid by.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Just got rid of the beet spoil, isn’t it a PITA!

 

[alomy75]

Just got rid of the beet spoil, isn’t it a PITA!

Yup. I leave it till the summer to dry out a bit.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Yup. I leave it till the summer to dry out a bit.

I’ve splatted it about on the beet field, ready to plough in before wheat drilling next wk.

 

[Farmerdunk]

Finished ours last night. Mouse got 3-4 loads to load then got to level thst ground out somehow! Just started ploughing

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Yup. I leave it till the summer to dry out a bit.

Yes usually do that, but even last year it still seemed wet in the pile.Thought I’d get it clear due to disease pressure, although I’d be surprised if anything survived the heat in it?!

 

[RmfJ]

Just got rid of the beet spoil, isn’t it a PITA!

Chuck it in a muckspreader