Agriculture - Rain hampers sugar beet harvest - yield inconsistent
The rainy weather of the past few weeks has made the sugar beet harvest in the southwest much more difficult in some cases. The harvest has not yet been completed, as the state farmers' association announced on request. Remaining stocks are still in the fields. The rainfall had ensured that the heavy harvesting machines could not reach the fields. In normal years, the harvest in the country is brought in by around November 20th.
The yields this year are reportedly very varied. "Everything from 30 tons per hectare to over 100 tons per hectare," it said. The fluctuations in yield have to do with the drought in summer and the regional distribution of rainfall, among other things. Bacterial diseases such as stolbur and SBR are also causing major problems for beet producers in some regions. The district of Schwäbisch Hall, for example, is affected by this.
Compared to previous years, farmers are expecting a lower sugar content. Depending on the region, it varies between 12 and 18 percent. On average, it is around 16 percent this year - and therefore below the long-term average of 18 percent.
Sugar beet is the raw material for industrial sugar production. The beet from Baden-Württemberg is processed in Südzucker's Offenau sugar factory, for example. However, the beet is also used as an energy source and as feed for livestock. According to provisional data from the State Statistical Office, a good 18,700 hectares of sugar beet were cultivated in Baden-Württemberg this year. In total, there are more than 800,000 hectares of arable land in the state.
According to the farmers' association, the rainfall has also made sowing winter cereals more difficult. This was a major challenge for farmers. Sowing - of winter wheat or winter barley, for example - has been significantly delayed in some cases. The State Statistical Office will publish figures on the fall sowing areas and the sugar beet yield in the southwest on Friday (10:00 a.m.).
State Statistical Office on the area under cultivation
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- The rain break is much needed for the farmers in the southwest, as the constant rain has hampered the agriculture in the area, affecting the sugar beet harvest and leading to inconsistent yields.
- In Baden-Württemberg, where sugar beet is agrarianly significant, the lower sugar content in the harvested beets is causing concerns among farmers, impacting the yield and raising questions about the efficiency of the industrial sugar production.
- The President of the Southwest Farmers' Association emphasized the importance of a 'rain break' for the successful completion of the harvest, stating that the heavy machinery is unable to reach the fields due to the wet conditions.
- Stuttgart-based meteorologists have predicted a potential 'rain break' in the upcoming days, which could significantly improve the situation for the sugar beet farmers in the Southwest, hoping for improved harvest yields.
Source: www.stern.de
