NFU Rejects Sugar Beet Price

The 2014 sugar beet price offered by British Sugar has been rejected by the NFU.  The processor offered to pay a supplement of £3/t over the agreed mechanism price of £27.67 per tonne, resulting in a contract price of £30.67 per tonne plus late delivery bonuses (£4.16 per tonne more than the price agreed last June for the current crop).  The industrial (ICE) price would also be £30.67 per tonne, with a guaranteed minimum surplus beet price for 2014/15 of at least £25 per tonne.

The NFU has said it cannot accept the offer before the growers’ meeting which is to be held at the Eastof England Showground on Tuesday 18th June.  According to the NFU, based on the views it had been receiving, the new price did not go far enough and although it would be comparable to returns farmers might expect from a wheat crop, the risks involved in growing a crop of sugar beet were much higher.  Following the experiences of the last few years, it said, growers felt they needed more of a premium compared to other crops if sugar beet was to remain attractive.  Growers were now unhappy with the formular price mechanism as it fails to account for the risks involved in growing a crop of sugar beet.  We will update readers following Tuesday’s meeting