Sugar beet growers will see a 8.4% price rise for the crop they drill next spring following the end of quotas in October 2017, and may gain a bonus if EU sugar prices are high.

Growers are being offered a guaranteed minimum price of £22/t for the 2017-18 season after a number of years of falling prices, which saw the price drop to £20.30/t for the current growing season.

British Sugar is offering growers either one-year or three-year contracts with bonuses paid if the EU sugar price rises over an average of €475/tonne up to a maximum of €700 over the marketing year.

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The price rise comes after talks between British Sugar and the NFU, with two options being offered to growers:

• One-year contract: 10% of the sugar revenue above the trigger point of €475/t will be paid to growers as the market bonus
• Three-year contract: 25% of the sugar revenue above the trigger point will be paid to growers as the market bonus

“When market conditions are good, our growers will share in the benefits. This will also mean that sugar beet competes in the rotation on farm and British Sugar can compete in a very competitive marketplace,” said Colm McKay, British Sugar’s agriculture director.

NFU sugar chairman William Martin added: “The sugar market link, and the opportunity for a multi-year contract, will allow growers to plan and invest for the future.

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