Sugar beet growers in Britain will be offered less for next year's crop after NFU Sugar and British Sugar reached a negotiated settlement for the 2027-28 beet crop, Farmers Weekly reports. The deal ends months of dispute in which British Sugar triggered arbitration in early August, with a verdict due by the end of October.
Growers will be offered a one-year fixed contract paying £28.50 a tonne for up to 50% of their contract tonnage. That compares with £30 a tonne for up to 65% on the current crop and £33 a tonne for up to 70% on the 2025-26 crop. Growers can split their tonnage between any of the three contract options on offer.
"This has been a long, and expensive, process which I hope in future years won't need to be repeated," said Kit Papworth, chairman of the NFU Sugar Board. "We believe this represents a fair deal, providing options for growers with different risk appetites."
Keith Packer, managing director of British Sugar, said nobody welcomed the long delay and the uncertainty it brought, with the industry "continuing to weather challenging market conditions", and that he hoped the announcement gave growers clarity "during this volatile period for farm businesses".
The settlement comes as British Sugar has announced plans to close its Cantley factory. For growers deciding what to drill next spring, the lower fixed price on a smaller share of tonnage sharpens the calculation of whether beet still earns its place in the rotation.
Photo: Kolforn / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Farmers Weekly
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