British Sugar (BS) has announced a one-off payment of £3,000 per Ha in return for beet being delivered in early September this year. The Early Beet Contract for 2023 has been put in place to try and mitigate some of the effects of the poor harvest from the recent campaign. As we have previously written, poor sugar yields together with a lower planted area means British Sugar faces a shortfall in production compared to its contracted commitments. The Early Contract should allow the processor to open its Bury factory early and bring in new crop, thereby reducing the amount of imported sugar which would have been required. NFU Sugar has worked with British Sugar to agree the new contract. Growers are encouraged to read the full terms and conditions in the contract from BS. But in summary;
- payment will be £3,000 per Ha plus any local premium and transport allowance where applicable. An additional £40 per tonne will be made in the unlikely event a growers yield exceeds 72.5t per Ha
- growers still need to look after the crop and, in particular, they will need to ensure at least 80,000 plants per Ha have been drilled by April 15th
- growers will need to order 1 unit per Ha of new seed with the contract; this is additional area on top of existing contracts, so that this does not take from already planned supply.
- the crop will need to be delivered between 4th to 13th September unless BS agree otherwise.