The NFU has said it is "extremely concerned" for sugar beet growers following a move by British Sugar to take down its online portal.
British beet growers are feeling "frustrated" after the move by British Sugar, according to the union.
British Sugar, which processes all sugar beet grown in the United Kingdom, has decided to take its online grower portal down for an indefinite period.
Chairman of the NFU Sugar board, Michael Sly, said: “I think I speak on behalf of all growers in expressing my disappointment and frustration that this has happened.
“This portal provides the information that growers and hauliers need to get beet into British Sugar factories. It isn’t just a nice to have – it’s business critical.”
NFU Sugar said it will closely monitor the effectiveness of the interim measures British Sugar puts in place to communicate with growers and hauliers.
Mr Sly added: “More generally, we are concerned about the continued, historic, lack of investment by Associated British Foods into British Sugar.
“Until greater investment is forthcoming, the home grown sugar industry will struggle to compete effectively in the post-quota world,” he said.
However, Colm McKay, agriculture director at British Sugar, said that "technical difficulties" have been experienced with the online Beet Account system.
“To investigate the cause of the problem and understand how to fix it the system will be down for the near future," he said.
“We appreciate this will be frustrating for our growers and hauliers but our priority is to ensure the system is fully operational. In the meantime we have put in place a number of plans to provide support and minimise the disruption.
“These have included extending the hours for our Grower Services helpdesk, providing paper copies of documents and speaking to growers directly to offer support," Mr McKay said.
