Beet Ireland

Are the UK yields mentioned not for mainly fenland or is it similar ground to here? And are the varieties grown here the same as they have always been or are new varieties being grown which are used in the UK?

Are any of the Irish AD plants using beet?
 
Beet Ireland should be applauded for what they have done. This is a great news story for the tillage sector. If it was another sector like dairy the red carpet would be put out for them. Most of the directors of the company are tillage farmers and have put in tremendous amount of work to get it to where they are now. They should be getting the full support from the whole sector. They want the growers to invest so they will always have a say and prevent the industry from closing in the future. This way the growers are shareholders and will get a share of the profits. They have other options as well but the last thing we want is another Liam Carroll majority shareholder who could close the whole industry with a click of his fingers. Teagascs eprofit monitor shows an average yield of 82t/ha for beet for their top 1/3 growers in 2016 and a net margin double that of the second most profitable crop wheat. Just look at this weeks farmers weekly and read Robert Law his best crop for 2017. There are growers in the UK achieving up to 120t/ha this year, 100t/ha is very common. We're the highest yielding country in the world for cereals, pulses and rapeseed and no reason why we can't with beet. The crop agronomy and machinery techniques have changed hugely since it closed. Drilling as early as possible in March and leaving crop as late as you dare in the autumn. The Beet Ireland group are great professionals. Farmers will be amazed with the package that they have prepared. Future growers don't need to worry about machinery it's not an issue. I know a couple of the people involved with this project and all I can say is they're over subscribed with growers jumping at the chance to grow a profitable break crop.I wish them all the best and I hope it's a great success.

That's all well and good but as Blackwater Boy said we've heard nothing about the level of farmer/shareholder investment required or what the projected income/beet price could be.

Working in the non agriculture private sector, if I went to senior management /board of directors with a potential investment opportunity and no best estimate financial projection incorporating the above and some doomsday scenarios, I'd quite frankly and correctly laughed out the door. This is no different in my view.
 
There’s a harvester working down the road from me that was pulled out of a ditch a couple of years ago after a 15 year holiday. Rumour has it that a chainsaw was used to cut the tree that had grown up through the hopper on it. Hope for us all yet

Jesus , there is enough hardship in keeping one going from one year to another without leaving it in the ditch for 15 years.
 
While on the subject of beet, there’s still plenty of it in the ground. Harvesting conditions very difficult.
 
Happened before

Happened in 2016 anyway!! I had one of your fellow parishioners and contractors here doing a job at sowing time and he was going back to pull beet!!

That was 26th of April if I remember rightly.

Didn't think there was that much beet left around.
 
I regularly sow and then lift the last of the beet in April. think the 22nd was latest date, but this year could break that
 
I’ve been out in may with the thyregod on many occasions through the years. It’s a bit strange to meet mowers and Balers on the road you get some funny looks
 
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