British Sugar ‘beet’ down price

British Sugar and the NFU have announced that the 2019 one-year contract price for sugar beet will be £19.07 per tonne (with no crown tare deductions), equivalent to £20.42 per tonne under previous contract terms and conditions. This represents a price drop of over 15% from the 2018 one-year contract price.

This reduction in price will inevitably apply negative pressure to the sugar beet Gross Margin potential, focusing growers’ thoughts on its profitability when compared to alternative break crops. The table below illustrates that if yields of 70 or more tonnes per hectare can be achieved, the potential gross margin still compares favourably to alternative break crops, although the potential negative impacts of sugar beet on soil structure for succeeding crops needs to be taken into account. However, those growers who average lower sugar beet yields may benefit from considering alternative cropping choices.

CROP GROSS MARGIN TARGETS
				Winter	Winter	Spring	Spring	Sugar
				OSR	Beans	Beans	Linseed	Beet
Output
	Yield		t/ha	3.75	4.25	4.00	2.00	70.00
	Price		£/t	325.0	155.0	155.0	340.0	20.42
	Gross Output		£/ha	1219.0	659.0	620.0	680.0	1429.4
Variable Costs
	Seed		£/ha	65.0	65.0	88.0	95.0	206.0
	Fertiliser		£/ha	175.0	40.0	40.0	100.0	195.0
	Sprays		£/ha	225.0	150.0	130.0	74.0	220.0
	Levies		£/ha	2.8	3.2	3.0	1.5	15.4
	Contract		£/ha					190.0
	Total Variable Costs		£/ha	467.8	258.2	261.0	270.5	826.4
Gross Margin			£/ha	751.2	400.8	359.0	409.5	603.0