Just over half-way through sugar beet harvest at Hill House Farm, Hedenham near Bungay, John Barrett's output is much improved over his earlier results.
"We did another 50 acres two weeks ago and the yield is well up - about 24t/acre - and the sugars are still good, around 18-18.5%. We've now done about 140 of our 270 acres."
The following planned crop was to have been wheat, but rain leaving the land wet, and the potentially better return from spring barley for malting have changed his mind.
The farm already has 133ha (330 acres) lined up for Tipple on contract at £180/t, he pointed out.
"Provided I can get the seed, the gross margin from 2.5t/acre of spring barley at £175/t is better than 3t/acre of wheat at £115/t, which is what I'm budgeting on - even with the seed at £425/t."
Having just returned from holiday Mr Barrett now faces a lengthy spell in the office.
"We have a whole load of forms to fill in, including our Crop Protection Management Plan, Soil Management Plan, Nutrient and Manure Management Plans, our Soil Protection Review and our LEAF audit.
"It's going to take a little while; because with all the different farms we're running we have 42 forms to fill in!"
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