British Sugar and the NFU Sugar board have appointed an external facilitator to help them reach an accord on the beet price for 2024-sown crops.

The two sides have been at loggerheads in recent months, unable to settle on a price for next year’s crop, which will have to be factored into arable farmers’ planting decisions this autumn.

See also: NFU and British Sugar beet price talks hit a deadlock

At the end of September, British Sugar wrote to growers, advising them that it was offering them a guaranteed £37.50/t for 2024-25 beet.

This was less than the £40/t basic price paid for the current crop, with British Sugar agriculture director Daniel Green explaining that this reflected the fall in grower input costs since last year.

Some growers interpreted this as the actual price they would be paid for next year’s crop, which prompted the NFU to issue a follow-up letter, on 28 September, denying that it had reached any agreement on either the price or the terms for next year’s beet.

“Negotiations remain ongoing and we will write to you again when there is more to say,” said NFU Sugar board chairman Michael Sly at the time.

Little progress

Since then, there appears to have been little progress, prompting the two sides to appoint an external facilitator from the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution to help with negotiations.

These discussions will be strictly behind closed doors, said British Sugar and NFU Sugar in a joint letter to growers.

Information on the discussions will not even be shared with NFU Sugar board members or British Sugar account managers.

The crux of the matter revolves around expectations of future developments in the price of sugar over the next 12 months.

Raw sugar prices have dropped by $50/t (£41/t) since peaking in September, with Brazil continuing to produce sugar in near-perfect conditions.

But weather concerns in Thailand and expectations of a lower crop in India could drive a greater deficit in the market, so supporting future prices.