Sad season for beet…
Sad season for beet…
THE spring so far has done little other than depress most sugar beet growers. Cold, wet seed-beds, torrential rains, floods and late frosts have hit the east midlands since sowing was first attempted in mid- to late March.
Our beet this year is in one large 25.64ha (53-acre) field, not the best in the rotation with areas of surface limestone and limited top soil, but normally one in which we can get on fairly early.
It was not until Mar 21 that we dared prepare a seed-bed this year using the Fendt 395 systems tractor and a 6.8m wide Wilder pressure harrow.
Even then we had to be careful not to penetrate too deep into the wet soil beneath. One pass was more than sufficient to level off the seed-bed and take out the sprayer wheelings left by an application of glyphosate two days earlier.
This done we started drilling Zulu on Mar 23 for two days and were rained off only to finish off with Madison on Apr 1.
Since then regular visits to the field have failed to excite. The one salvation is that the weeds do not seem to like the growing conditions any more than the sugar beet and to date we have done nothing more than spray 2.5ha (6 acres) for knotgrass control.
It was, therefore, refreshing to receive our contract performance record from British Sugar last week along with our statistics for the past 10 years. We made the top 10% of growers for yield of adjusted beet in our area for the first time last year which, although good news, has none-the-less only been achieved by producing over 900t of C beet.
Had we been blessed with the benefit of hindsight, we could have achieved our A+B quota from 6ha (15 acres) less area. Like most farmers on free-draining, drought-prone soil, we usually err on the safe side.
Prior to last year our 10-year average for adjusted beet was 45t/ha (18t/acre) and our worst yield 32t/ha (13t/acre). We have been under quota twice in 10 years but, clearly, last years figures give us room to manoeuvre for the next two.
• It is with much sadness that I have to report the untimely death of Roger Reynolds. Roger was a fellow director of A1 Farmers, our six-farm machinery sharing and agronomy group, and he farmed at Pilsgate near Stamford in Lincolnshire.
In partnership with his brother Mike, he took over the farming business started by his father Bill, who was a founder member of A1 Farmers and chairman for 25 years.
Having known Roger since he left agricultural college at Cirencester, I have always valued his friendship and admired him as a practical farmer and businessman.
He will be missed too my a wide circle of friends and neighbours and by a farming community in which he has taken an active part over the years. Our thoughts are with his wife Sue, two young daughters and all his family.
Easton Lodge:10 years sugar beet performance
Year 97/98 96/97 95/96 94/95 93/94 92/93 91/92 90/91 89/90 88/89
Contract tonnage 880 880 880 880 880 880 880 880 880 880
Unwashed weight 1847 1139 932 1178 1420 1397 1055 733 1128 1151
Clean weight 1616 982 824 1043 1169 1177 873 597 957 977
Adjusted weight 1800 1179 785 1158 1283 1305 920 634 1020 1110
Surplus/shortfall +920 +299 -95 +278 +403 +425 +40 -246 +140 +230
Contract tonnes (%) 204.5 134.0 89.2 131.6 145.8 148.3 104.6 72.0 115.9 126.1
Dirt tare (%) 6,0 6.5 4.9 5.9 10.4 9.6 12.6 11.6 9.3 10.7
Tops tare (%) 6.6 7.3 6.6 5.6 7.3 6.2 4.6 7.0 5.9 4.5
Total tare (%) 12.6 13.8 11.5 11.5 17.7 15.8 17.2 18.6 15.2 15.2
Crop area 24.4 24.1 21.0 26.4 22.5 23.1 25.5 19.6 23.4 23.0
Clean yield (t/ha) 66.16 40.67 39.23 39.50 51.77 50.95 34.23 30.44 40.89 42.47
Adjusted yield (t/ha) 73.70 48.83 37.39 43.86 56.84 56.49 36.09 32.33 43.60 48.27
Number of loads 81 48 39 49 59 62 47 38 57 58
Av clean weight 19.95 20.45 21.13 21.28 19.81 18.98 18.57 15.70 16.79 16.84
Sugar (%) 17.30 18.20 15.50 17.20 17.10 17.20 16.60 16.70 16.70 17.50
Amino nitrogen 127 133 216 130 116 105 223 270 234 118
Contract miles 48 72 72 72 72 72 72 12 12 12
First delivery 3/11 11/11 31/10 24/10 12/10 19/10 6/11 14/11 31/10 7/11
Last delivery 16/2 24/2 12/2 23/1 17/1 18/1 6/2 8/1 5/2 21/1
Compensated loss 5
Contracting factory 12 04 04 04 04 04 04 14 14 14
Source: British Sugar grower records
Year 97/98 96/97 95/96 94/95 93/94 92/93 91/92 90/91 89/90 88/89
Contract tonnage 880 880 880 880 880 880 880 880 880 880
Unwashed weight 1847 1139 932 1178 1420 1397 1055 733 1128 1151
Clean weight 1616 982 824 1043 1169 1177 873 597 957 977
Adjusted weight 1800 1179 785 1158 1283 1305 920 634 1020 1110
Surplus/shortfall +920 +299 -95 +278 +403 +425 +40 -246 +140 +230
Contract tonnes (%) 204.5 134.0 89.2 131.6 145.8 148.3 104.6 72.0 115.9 126.1
Dirt tare (%) 6,0 6.5 4.9 5.9 10.4 9.6 12.6 11.6 9.3 10.7
Tops tare (%) 6.6 7.3 6.6 5.6 7.3 6.2 4.6 7.0 5.9 4.5
Total tare (%) 12.6 13.8 11.5 11.5 17.7 15.8 17.2 18.6 15.2 15.2
Crop area 24.4 24.1 21.0 26.4 22.5 23.1 25.5 19.6 23.4 23.0
Clean yield (t/ha) 66.16 40.67 39.23 39.50 51.77 50.95 34.23 30.44 40.89 42.47
Adjusted yield (t/ha) 73.70 48.83 37.39 43.86 56.84 56.49 36.09 32.33 43.60 48.27
Number of loads 81 48 39 49 59 62 47 38 57 58
Av clean weight 19.95 20.45 21.13 21.28 19.81 18.98 18.57 15.70 16.79 16.84
Sugar (%) 17.30 18.20 15.50 17.20 17.10 17.20 16.60 16.70 16.70 17.50
Amino nitrogen 127 133 216 130 116 105 223 270 234 118
Contract miles 48 72 72 72 72 72 72 12 12 12
First delivery 3/11 11/11 31/10 24/10 12/10 19/10 6/11 14/11 31/10 7/11
Last delivery 16/2 24/2 12/2 23/1 17/1 18/1 6/2 8/1 5/2 21/1
Compensated loss 5
Contracting factory 12 04 04 04 04 04 04 14 14 14
Source: British Sugar grower records
Easton Lodge – local comparison
Sugar beet yield Contract Beet Purity Dirt
(adjusted t/ha) achievement (Amino N) tare (%)
Top 10% av. 70.76 195.2 95 3.4
Easton Lodge 73.70 204.5 127 6.0
Bottom 10% av. 33.56 96.7 290 9.5