In less than a fortnight, British Sugar will open its factory gates and start the job of processing the 2009 beet crop.
It stands to make a lot of money from the activity, with international sugar prices at a 30-year high, the weak pound protecting the sector from imports and the value of bioethanol also on the way up.
Yet the task of agreeing terms with growers for the 2010 crop still hangs in the balance, with DEFRA poised to come in as arbitrator if talks collapse this week.
The two sides are tantalisingly close, with the NFU indicating that it will accept last year's price of £27/t as a "bridging" value for 2010, (though it still wants £34.50/t as the long-term price to give growers "the security to commit to the crop for future years").
In contrast, British Sugar says £26/t is the most it can pay and growers can either "take it or leave it". The company claimed at the NFU meeting last week that, if it is forced to go up to £27/t, then the 800,000t of "temporary tonnage", linked to the processing of bio-ethanol at Wissington, may be withdrawn.
That all seems highly questionable...
Just this week, parent company Associated British Food issued a trading update indicating that "sugar profit will be substantially ahead of last year, driven by growth in the EU and Illovo (it's African cane processing outfit)".
Robust sales, a strong euro and favourable energy costs had all benefited the beet processing parts of the company, it said.
The statement also revealed that ABF had recently received an advance payment of £120m from the disposal of its Polish sugar business last month. Analysts suggest it will receive at least the same again, when the deal is completed at the end of the year.
The London Stock Exchange certainly liked this morning's statement, with ABF shares up 4% to 845p today, on top of a longer term 10% rise this year.
Of course, British Sugar has to justify its beet price in the light of its own economic performance, not that of its parent or sister companies. But it can hardly claim to be strapped for cash given the favourable environment in which it is trading.
As such, it seems ridiculous that the company management has allowed the 2010 beet price negotiations to get into such a parlous state - especially when it is just £1/t that now separates the two sides.
Put in context, that amounts to an annual cost of about £7m. Last year, the sugar and agriculture division of ABF made an operating profit of £186m on sales of over £2bn.
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