Poor weather has hindered the start of sugar beet sowing in Germany, the European Union's second largest beet producer, but the sowed area is likely to be similar to last year, the head of Germany's sugar industry association WVZ said on Monday. "Sowings of sugar beet has started this year with a significant delay," said association CEO Guenter Tissen. "In some regions the delay has now reached four weeks in comparison with last year."
"The recent cold weather with snow and rain has hindered sowings." Sowings in other major EU producers are also facing delays, observers said. It is too early to say if the sowings delay will have an impact on the harvest, he said. Europe's sugar industry and beet farmers are facing a tough time with a sharp fall in prices following the European Union's sugar market liberalisation in September 2017 which ended production quotas and linked EU prices to world markets.
German farmers had last year increased sugar beet sowings to around 407,000 hectares against 334,000 hectares in the previous season. This year's sowed area may reach around the same despite the price fall, Tissen said.