Live Projects

The UK sugar-beet industry has largely achieved its objective of increasing national average yields to 70 t/ha. The opportunities offered by recovering and processing the whole of the crown material are being explored to improve yields even further.

In England, sugar beet must compete with wheat and oilseed-rape for a place in the arable rotation. At today’s prices for wheat (c. £160/t) and beet (c. £26/t) the competition is stiff: the costs per tonne of beet must decrease. There is little if any opportunity to reduce input costs, so yield must increase rapidly.

Strip tillage is a non-inversion technique that has been widely adopted in some areas of the United States for growing row crops e.g. maize and sugar beet. This system cultivates narrow bands of soil directly into crop stubble, thus reducing the total area of cultivated soil allowing areas of undisturbed soil to be left. 

The aim of this project was to provide growers with a tool to analyse their past performance so that they can separate the effects of differences between seasons from the changes in their ability to harness the latest technology to produce big yields.

The UK sugar-beet industry needs to improve the cost-effectiveness of sugar production if it is to remain competitive within the new EU Sugar Regime.

Insufficient moisture during summer months limits UK sugar beet production more than any other single factor. Compared with potential production without stress, yield losses are on average 10%, worth ~£30M per year in the UK.

In 2006, 27 genotypes were tested under irrigated and managed drought conditions using the polytunnel system. These genotypes consisted of six ‘core’ hybrids that have been tested over several years and are known to contrast for drought tolerance and water use efficiency.

In a two-year project conducted by British Sugar plc, clamps were constructed at two sites, using beet grown on a sandy loam and clay loam soils.

Since the mid 1990s, the average concentration of amino-N in beet delivered to British Sugar factories has decreased progressively from around 160 to 70mg/100g/sugar at a rate of approximately 8 units per year. 

A crucial part of the year for birds is winter, when resources are low, and survival difficult. Inclusion of a spring-sown crop such as sugar beet, predominantly preceded by cereals, can play an important role in supporting some farmland bird populations.

This evaluation tested seven drills at two speeds and on two soil types. Drill performance was measured by uniformity of seed spacing. There was variability in the way drills were worked and the accuracy of operation.