'Sharing to grow' Mike May, Brooms Barn Research Centre

Mike May, Senior Liason Officer, Broom's Barn Research Centre

So how do we ensure that yields are as high as possible? This is where collaboration also has an important role. In the current climate of high cereal prices and lower sugar returns, the share to grow concept can help to reduce costs, maximise yields and improve profitability.

Workloads on modern farms are high and, as would be expected, the least profitable crops tend to have less focus than the profitable ones and it is important for overall farm profitability that the beet crop performs to its highest potential.

Where growers collaborate in any crop, there is a need to have one 'specialist' manager to take charge of the group. This person has the responsibility to arrange all inputs for the crop and ensure timing of operations and inputs are optimised across the members' farms. This can improve the financial returns of beet so that it remains a profitable and desirable break crop.

Good seedbeds are essential if a crop is to get off to a good start. Where good establishment can be guaranteed, seed rates can be kept low (in many cases to less than 1 unit per ha) and so reduce costs. Crops established early will also make more use of the sun's energy in May and June than the National crop normally does.

Drilling rates on individual farms are often not optimum. Once weather and soil conditions are suitable, the aim should be to get all beet drilled within 10 days. Drilling records suggest that this is not the case on most farms. Collaboration, overseen by one manager, can optimize drilling capacity so that the drilling window is kept as narrow as possible.

When seeking to achieve good drilling performance it is necessary to start with autumn cultivations, the quality of these needs to be improved. All too often ploughing for beet is left until all other autumn jobs are completed. This usually results in a less than ideal soil structure. The task of the specialist beet manager is to ensure that primary cultivations are carried out under good conditions.

This will often entail contracting the job out when members' equipment is not available. Growers often appear to get away with less than perfect ploughing but when conditions in the spring become difficult, as they invariably do, crop growth suffers. In the wet summer of 2007, a large number of fields suffered when pans at about plough depth impeded water drainage.

Even in the kindest seasons, uneven ploughing results in extra cultivations being required to produce a seedbed. This is not only costly, but often delays drilling. Ploughing under wet conditions damages soil structure resulting in slow drying of the soil. In spring, wet soils delay drilling and poor structures usually mean that beet roots do not use all of the soil profile and suffer more from drought and nutrient deficiency than well-rooted crops.

So what do we look for in the specialist sugar beet manager who will oversee a collaborative production? This will be someone who not only understands the beet crop, soils and cultivations, but can also manage logistics and can communicate effectively with the members. Groups who support and use a manager to focus on the production side of beet can look forward to increased yields and improved profitability.

The potential for growers operating within efficient groups to save costs and increase income is likely to be a minimum of £70/ha, but this could be two or three times this amount for a more average performing farm.

Within the current situation of arable farming, developing a more collaborative approach between beet producers has got to be a key business strategy that all growers will need to fully explore and take advantage of.