Beet Growers Called To Price Meeting

Sugar growers are being encouraged to show solidarity by attending a price meeting early next month.

The meeting, hosted by the NFU, will take place on September 2 at the East of England showground, to discuss the recent collapse in talks with British Sugar and the price for 2010. Negotiations, which stalled last week, have been described as particularly disappointing by NFU Sugar board chairman William Martin.

Ideally we need a contract that gives beet growers confidence to invest in the future and ensure a sustainable supply, he said. However the negotiations have ended in deadlock. There is no agreement for a one-year deal, let alone a longer term framework.

An unequivocal show of solidarity of support for the NFUs position will make it clear to British Sugar that growers are united in their rejection of a price cut in 2010.

The processor must recognise that the current uncertainty and absence of agreement risk jeopardising the volume of beet planted in 2010, and may well trigger a switch from beet to oilseed rape over the next few weeks. A clear message from growers to British Sugar is now required, both to underline growers resolve to stick together and to highlight to the processor the negative repercussions of their current stance on the beet price.