A new online sugar beet seed calculator designed specifically for farmers seeking to optimise yields and assess the financial return of seed treatments is available.

Launched by seed technology solution specialist Germain’s, the tool has a simple interface, enabling users to enter crop area, seed rate, expected yield and price.

Farmers can compare yield and financial returns from a range of seed treatments from UK trial data.

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“The new calculator helps growers make data driven decisions about crop management and seed choices, ultimately leading to increased profitability and sustainability,” explains the firms lead scientist, Jordan Long.

The tool estimates potential yields and returns using grower’s own data and UK trial results from Germains which are conducted under UK conditions by ORETO-accredited organisations.

Tested by farmers

Suffolk sugar beet grower Will Hitchcock notes the calculator has been beneficial to decision-making on the farm.

“Being able to see in black and white, the advantage of different seed treatments such as Xbeet enrich 300 and 400 is exactly what a grower needs to make informed decisions,” he says. 

“In the current climate you need marginal gains to ensure your competitive advantage.

“There is a huge amount of uncertainty about the price of beet, but as a grower there is a lot we can do to de-risk the crop,” continues Will.

“By knowing what seed treatments are offering, it helps to reassure us that we’re doing everything we can to maximise yield.

“I see the calculator being useful for British Sugar account managers, and agronomists too,” he adds.

Will helps manage Hitchcock Farms, a family-run business that drills more than 800ha and lifts over 1,200ha of sugar beet each year.

Cropping

The home farm has 200ha of the crop and the rotation centres on beet in a one in four year rotation.

Apart from haulage, the farm runs all its own machinery dedicated to beet production.

“We’ve gone against the grain with some of our kit.

“One of the drills, the Kuhn Kosma, is the only one in the country specialising in sugar beet, and we’ve built our own chaser to get crops off the fields in poor conditions.

At the home farm Will says drilling went well overall this year though he admits there was more moisture loss than he would have liked on some of the heavier land.

“That led to some two-stage germination. However, we did get rain when needed and crops have caught up and are looking good. On the kinder land, there was good plant stand from the word go.”

Most of Will’s sugar beet crops were treated with Xbeet enrich 300, but where potential was lacking on the light land he dropped back to the enrich 200 option.

“I’m fairly confident about this year’s crop,” he says. 

“We’re irrigating where we can – including some of the heavier land at the home farm – thanks to a legacy of irrigation equipment from grass leys for dairy cows in the 1970s and 1980s.”

Despite the challenges facing sugar beet today, Will is optimistic about its future.

“With virus yellows and increasing adverse weather, the yield growth we’ve seen in recent years could well slow.

“But that just makes it even more important to explore the potential of new technologies and techniques.”