The unprecedented weather conditions this campaign have made harvesting, delivering and processing the current beet crop more challenging than normal.  The NFU has been in continuous discussions with British Sugar and is active in several areas. This letters sets out our main priorities.

Grower advice
The priority of both the NFU and British Sugar is to process as much sugar beet as possible.  The NFU is clear that this means assessing all sugar beet still on farm that might be processable.

The advice to all growers who still have sugar beet on farm is as follows: 

• Contact your British Sugar Area Manager immediately or log a call with the British Sugar helpline (0870 2402314). Your crop will be assessed for processing as soon as possible. 
• You may wish to do your own visual inspection using the British Sugar guidelines that are available www.nfusugar.com and www.bsonline.com.  This initial exercise may give you an idea how likely it will be that the processor can take this into the factory.
• When your beet has been assessed, you will need to decide whether to deliver. There is no guarantee that beet will be accepted even if positively assessed on farm. This is because, in the current mild conditions, beet quality can change quickly. Wherever possible beet should be delivered as soon after lifting as possible.  
• If your beet is not fit for sugar production, it may still be suitable for feeding livestock. The NFU and British Sugar have identified a number of stock feed markets , the contacts of which can be found on www.bsonline.com.

Beyond the immediate priority of crop recovery, the NFU has urged the processor to be more proactive in communicating what’s happening.

Grower information
Information is critical. In the current uncertainty growers need to plan and assess what they can deliver.  They should be supported by the processor as far as possible with up to date information about the factory’s progress and ability to process beet on farm.   The NFU has insisted that, in light of the recent decision to further prioritise deliveries at Newark, British Sugar needs to meet with growers as soon as possible to explain the current situation.

A British Sugar Grower meeting will now take place on Thursday 27 January at the Lincolnshire Showground at 2pm.

Beet on farm
The NFU has insisted that British Sugar provides adequate resource to assess the crop that remains on farm. Although this need is more acute in the Newark factory area, the urgency of assessing and prioritising beet quality and delivery applies to all factory areas.  Sufficient staff support to bolster the already stretched area manager resource must be made available to maximise the recovery of the crop.

Performance rules
Under the current circumstances, it is clear that normal performance rules have little relevance. That is why the NFU is calling for a complete amnesty in 2010.

Self –Grow
The NFU has called for an assurance from British Sugar that Self Grow beet is not given preferential treatment over other beet.

Other NFU activity
It is obvious that there will be other effects of the current difficulties on beet growers.  The NFU is reviewing those and exploring what can be done to alleviate these impacts. These include: 

• Discussions with the RPA to speed up SPS payments which will help cash flow;
• Discussions with banks and county councils to appraise them of the current cash flow difficulties caused by crop loss in a bid to improve terms for sugar beet growers;
• Industry analysis of results from current varietal trials which are still in the ground. This can provide useful initial results on varieties and their respective resilience to the weather conditions in 2010. The intention would be to follow this up with more comprehensive work.

The NFU continues to monitor the situation very closely and is in daily dialogue with British Sugar and the factories.  The situation is changing frequently and confirms the need for regular communication.  We will keep you informed.

William Martin
Chairman, NFU Sugar