Beet seed secure for next year

While the pricing debate for next year's sugar beet crop continues in the UK, Syngenta reports that its Hilleshog sugar beet seed harvest in France is looking excellent.

On a recent visit to the company's main seed production location in the Lot-et-Garonne region of south west France, UK trials & product development manager, Paul Roche, reported that the potential yield and quality of seed for next year looks to be very good. The Italian seed harvest is already in and also shows considerable promise.

Pictured here on the right with Hilleshog's European seed production manager, Philippe Listuzzi, Paul said: "As sugar beet is a hybrid seed, it is at least a three year process to produce commercial seed, and it is very important for us to check the final seed crop. Last year's harvest was very challenging, but this year it's looking good, which means there should be plenty of top quality seed for next year's crop, barring a serious weather event in the next week or two."

The Hilleshog team at Syngenta remains positive about UK sugar production. Richard Powell, Syngenta's UK sugar beet crop manager, said: "We believe that the coming years will be an exciting time for sugar beet development and we remain confident about the market. However, with margins being so tight, when selecting varieties for the coming year we would strongly advise growers to consider five cost factors in addition to straight yield – seed price, sugar content, bolting, reduced tares, and transport costs - not all of which form part of the adjusted tonnes calculations on the recommended list.

"Growers have shown great faith in our current varieties, Trinita, Opta and Alota, which lead the way in the current campaign, accounting for nearly 40% of the UK market. Importantly they address all of these factors that contribute to profit, as does our new variety, Tempest."