Insight Focus

European beet plantings are happening rapidly. They’ve been helped by dry weather. Decent rainfall is needed in April to enable strong yields.

Dry Start to 2025 Beet Sowings

Beet sowings are happening across Europe right now. The weather is dry and warm temperatures in February and March have enabled early sowing. This is good news as it could give the beets longer to mature before eventual harvest, which would be positive for yields.

However, rainfall across the beet belt has been low and soil moisture is below average. Looking in more detail across some of Europe’s major beet areas:

United Kingdom

  • Rainfall was close to normal in early March, but it has been dry since.
  • More rains are forecast later in April.
  • These rains are needed as soil moisture is the lowest in at least 5 years.

Source: Refinitiv Eikon, Agricultural Weather Data

France

  • Beet areas have had heavier rainfall than in the UK.
  • However, soil moisture is trending lower.

Source: Refinitiv Eikon, Agricultural Weather Data

Germany

  • It’s a similar story here; soil moisture is at the bottom of its 5-year range.

Source: Refinitiv Eikon, Agricultural Weather Data

Poland

  • The situation looks worst in Poland.
  • It’s barely rained in beet areas in the past 8 weeks.
  • This has resulted in the lowest soil moisture reading out of the 4 countries we’ve examined.

Source: Refinitiv Eikon, Agricultural Weather Data

The European Commission has noted the potential for drought-like conditions in regions such as Poland, due to ongoing rainfall deficits.

Elsewhere, recent rainfall in Southeast Europe has offered some relief, improving soil moisture in parts of Hungary and Romania. Some growers are debating whether to bring forward their first round of fertilizer applications, especially if rainfall remains scarce.

Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre – EU Science Hub

In summary, dry weather has enabled rapid beet plantings, but most growers in Europe are now hoping for normal rainfall in April and May.

As a reminder, we think EU+UK beet area will decline by around 6% in 2025, from 1.61m ha to 1.51m ha. If yields are better year-on-year that will help offset some of the area loss.

Tabasoom Watak

Tabasoom joined CZ in August 2022 as an Analyst Intern, shortly after graduating from King’s College London in July with a BSc in Global Health and Social Medicine (with Pharmacology). She is responsible for expanding CZ’s knowledge and expertise in biomass & starches, as well as delivering the sugar premium package on CZ App.

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