Bonus payments for beet growers announced

Following months of discussions, the NFU and British Sugar have announced details of a contract bonus payment for beet growers.

Provided they fulfil their contract, growers will receive £1.50 per tonne on their 2013/14 contracted tonneage, to be paid following the 2013/14 campaign and applying to both Contract Tonneage Entitlement (CTE) and Industrial Tonneage (ICE).

NFU Sugar has been highlighting to British Sugar for some months the difficulties of this year’s campaign and the significant loss of confidence among growers.

Growers have faced challenging crop conditions and beet factories have had multiple performance problems resulting in a long campaign, further compounding problems on farm.

NFU Sugar Board chairman William Martin said: "We welcome the agreement reached with British Sugar today which represents a positive first step in helping restore growers’ confidence in British Sugar’s commitment to UK growers."

The additional payment will not be made if there is a shortfall against contracted tonnage.