We lifted the last of our 2024 sugar beet on 31 January and have had a good year.

Each customer’s sugar beet crop has yielded comfortably above budget, despite using non-Cruiser (thiamethoxam) dressed Conviso seed and beginning our campaign early.

The only fly in the ointment is the futures-linked beet price. I’m convinced the algorithm is rigged against growers.

See also: Project aims to tackle emerging sugar beet disease

About the author

Robert Scott

Robert Scott farms 1,450ha of arable in mid-west Norfolk for seven different landowners. He grows combinable crops and sugar beet together with cover crops, grass leys and extensive countryside stewardship schemes. He also finishes 2,000 lambs a year. robert@thscottandson.co.uk Instagram: @thscottandson

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Like the sugar beet, our store lambs have grown well. A mild and dry(er) winter has helped somewhat.

We’ve sent two batches to slaughter so far. One of these groups only grazed haylage aftermaths and finished on cover crops.

Hopefully, the rest will follow suit soon as they are now all grazing turnips. Achieving 1kg/week liveweight gain seems to be the norm.

These turnips will be followed by sugar beet as one of only two “deep” cultivation opportunities in our rotation.

The integration of sheep into our arable business continues with the arrival this month of a new Collie pup named Belle.

My older Collie is being very patient having her ears pulled and would probably describe the replacement policy as Hell’s Bells rather than Princess Belle. The newcomer is rather lively!

The replacement theme continues with machinery. We also await delivery of a new telehandler. The previous JCB 536-70 has managed 17 years of hard work, and I hope the new JCB 542-70 is here just as long.

The February hedge-cutting rush has arrived again, as it does every year. We’ve had two machines going of our own, and another subcontracted in.

We are busier than ever contract hedgecutting farm hedges in the run-up to 1 March with a full diary.

Despite this, it still surprises me how little some other contractors are charging for hedgecutting.

Surely this is a race to the bottom. It makes a mockery of the running costs we have to bear, and the skillset of quality operators. I’m not prepared to work for nothing and others shouldn’t either.

We have sprayed off our cover crops ahead of spring barley, in anticipation of timely establishment. I’ve left alone the cover crops ahead of April-sown vining peas, to retain some friable soil until closer to drilling.

Time will tell if this is the right call.