Farmer Focus: It’s the end of the road for sugar beet

August can often be a wet month here, and 2026 hasn’t been an exception. We had 63mm of rain in the month, which is nearly as much as May, June and July combined.  

Thankfully, we had finished our cereal harvest by the time most of it arrived, and I’m pleased to report we’ve had a fair to middling harvest. 

Winter barley and winter beans both yielded about 10% over our average, while spring oats, spring barley and wheat were down about 5%, which is better than feared.

The surprise this year has been the amount of straw, which has replenished supplies. In their inaugural year here, vining peas did well at 3.2t/ha and will leave perfect conditions for the following wheat crop.

See also: Farmer Focus: A rewarding trip home down memory lane 

About the author

Andrew Wilson

Arable Farmer Focus writer Andrew Wilson is a fourth-generation tenant of Castle Howard Estate in North Yorkshire. The farm supports crops of wheat, barley, oats, beans, sugar beet, potatoes, and grass for hay across 250ha. Other enterprises include bed and breakfast pigs, environmental stewardship, rooftop solar and contracting work.  

Contact:

Email: wilsonbrickyard@gmail.com

X: https://twitter.com/SpudSlingsby

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What is less positive is the desperate state of our root crops. Unirrigated potatoes when dug a fortnight ago were showing yields of less than 50% of contracted levels, and sugar beet was worse.

The irrigated crops will physically yield OK, but have a much greater cost base to get there. My gut feeling is a breakeven year across the board, and that’s looking at the sunny side of things. 

It’s a good six months until we’ll know for sure, we’ve to get our old potato crop through winter yet, which is going to be a challenge that we need to be on the front foot for.

One benefit of multiple enterprises and a wide spread of crops is that it is rare for everything to be in the doldrums at the same time. 

After much deliberation, and after over 60 continuous years of production, the end of the road has come for sugar beet in our operation. It’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly, but the likelihood of the eventual price leaving a profit is slim given increased pest pressure and the distance we are from our nearest factory.

Eternal optimism is no longer a good enough reason to keep drilling the crop. I cannot afford to ignore reality. At least I became a member of the 100t club, even if it was for just one year.