Insight Focus
The farm has been quiet over Christmas, with sugar beet harvesting ongoing. Winter crops are growing well, though rust and spring regrowth are concerns. Discussions about 2025 sugar beet prices highlight potential supply issues.
What’s Happening on the Farm?
If I’m honest, not a lot. Like most businesses in the UK, we closed for the Christmas period, which seems to get longer and longer. At some point, this will get so long that we’ll never go to work again.
Our local sugar processor will point out that they were slicing beet all the way through this seasonal period. We delivered to it.
We lifted “on demand” reviewing each time there was a weather update because we have to balance freeze and flood risks. The processor shuts down in March and isn’t seen again until September, while we have to press on elsewhere.
Talking of floods, we have not had the precipitation that many other parts of England have experienced. If we see a drought in the spring, there will be big yield losses in winter crops. If the weather is kinder—never been known—I’d like to think that we’d be okay.
In the period running up to Christmas, there have been many farmer meetings to attend. These are good, and knowledge is transferred. As a consequence, I have a pile of notes on my desk that need addressing—I always get behind, even though I promise myself I will use the quiet period to catch up.
When talking about sugar beet, there are a lot of unhappy comments about prices for harvest ’25. If something doesn’t change, it would not surprise me to see an issue of supply being created going forward. I always used to think it would be the processor that would give up first, but I think it will be the grower.
Jackie and I did go to a concert in Salisbury Cathedral— which was very exciting.
More weirdly though, we found ourselves in a convoy of cars celebrating the downfall of the Assad regime in Syria.
What Stage are the Crops at?
Wheat/Rye/Spring Barley
Although we go away, it always surprises me to see the crops grow over the holiday period. This year is no different. Soil temperatures have remained, for the most part, surprisingly warm, allowing nitrogen to continue to mineralise, which has helped crops grow. I appreciate that the demand for nitrogen is low at this time of year, but this must help these crops be stronger going into the spring.
Unhelpfully, on the other hand, rust is being seen in forward crops. As beet comes out of the ground, we have spring barley to plant, which we will do as soon as we practically can.
OSR
Just from the chat, the crop that is out there appears to be splitting into two groups. Those that planted early seem to have well-established crops, and those that didn’t have not. We are chasing pigeons off our field—it’s an annual event that seems odd to those who do not grow rapeseed.
Sugar Beet
Lifting and delivering continues, winter feels an exceptionally long period when I look at this crop at this time of year.
Apart from the freeze risk mentioned earlier, we now start to worry about spring regrowth, which will eat away at the stored sugar in the beet. Do we lift and clamp, or leave it in the soil?
What are your Biggest Concerns?
Bearing in mind that my New Year’s resolution was not to complain about the government, lack of profitability and weather in general, I have no concerns this year.
Like all New Year’s resolutions, mine will last six weeks.
