Inputs and management practices of sugar beet production, by cost group, 2000

 

 

Item	Low-cost farm	Mid-cost farm	High-cost farm
Irrigation (% of beet hectares)
Previous crop (% of farms)
Wheat
Corn
Soyabeans		*	*
Other crops
Seed (kg/hectare)	1,63	1,88	1,80
Fertiliser use (% of farms)
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium
Fertiliser application rate (kg/hectare)
Nitrogen		116,8
Phosphorus	66,2	74,1	79,8
Potassium	29,1	52,9
Chemical use (% of farms)
Herbicides
Insecticides
Tillage system (% of farms)
Conventional with mouldboard plow
Conventional with mouldboard plow
Reduced tillage
Mulch tillage
Soil surface covered (%)
Custom operations (% of farms)
Cultivation/planting	*
Fertiliser application
Chemical application
Harvest/hauling
Fuel use (litres/hectare)
Diesel	117,3		234,7
Gasoline	41,6	98,4	151,4
Electricity (kilowatt hours)	134,1
Labour use (hours/hectare)
Unpaid labour	8,2	12,8	14,8
Paid labour	6,7	11,4	20,5
Precision technology (% of farms)
GPS
Remote sensing
VRT fertiliser
Fertiliser management practices
Soil nitrogen test
Soil phosphate test
Plant tissue test
Nitrogen applications
Less than recommended
More than recommended
Equal to recommended
Basis for nitrogen decision
Routine practice
Soil/tissue test
Crop consultant
Fertiliser dealer
Extension services			*
Nitrogen/crop prices	*
Factory recommendation
Pest management practices
Scouting weeds
Scouting insects
Scouting diseases
Scouting records
Pre-emergence herbicides
Routine practice
Field mapping	*
Dealer recommendation	*
Consultant recommendation		*
Post-emergence herbicides
Routine practice
Field mapping
Dealer recommendation
Consultant recommendation
Reasons for insecticide applications
Preventive schedule
Scouting data
History of problem
Local information
Operator determination of infestation

 

 

Land use on sugar beet farms, 2000

 

 

Item	All ARMS farms
ARMS share (%)
Sugar beet farms
Sugar beet acres
Sugar beet production
Size (hectare)
Operated
Cropland
Harvested
Land tenure (% of operated hectare)
Owned
Cash-rent
Share-rent
Crops (% of harvested hectare)
Sugar beet
Wheat
Soyabeans
Corn
Barley/oats
Dry edible beans
Potatoes
Hay
Others

 

Source: 2000 USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey

 

Average characteristics of sugar beet farms, 2000

 

Note: numbers will vary considerably for European farms as many countries discourage similar professionalism and merging of farms compared to the Americans. There are considerably smaller and less profitable farms in EU countries as far as I know.

 

 

Item	All ARMS farms (Euro)
Farm finances (euro/farm)
Farm production value	399 524
Sugar beet production value	153 127
Net farm income	63 829
Assets	1 302 772
Debt	327 300
Farm equity	975 471
Debt-to-asset ratio (percent)
Income solvency group (% of farms)
Favourable (percent of farms)
Marginal income
Marginal solvency
Vulnerable
Co-op share (%of farms)
Operator occupation (%)
Farming as major occupation
Operator age (%)
Less than 50 years
50-64 years
65 years or older
Operator education (%)
High school or less
Some college
Completed college

 

Sugar beet production costs and returns, 2000 (Euro)

Item	All ARMS farms
Gross return	Euro per planted hectare
Sugar beets total gross return
Operating costs
Seed
Fertiliser
Chemicals
Custom operations
Fuel, lube, and electricity
Repairs
Purchased irrigation water	10,6
Freight and dirt hauling	26,4
Miscellaneous	30,2
Hauling allowance (-)	14,3
Interest on operating capital	19,6
Hired labour
Total operating costs
Return over total operating costs
Ownership and other costs
Capital recovery (machinery & equipment)
Taxes and insurance	29,5
General farm overhead
Opportunity cost of land
Opportunity cost of unpaid labour
Opportunity cost of coop share	41,5
Total (economic) costs
Return over total (economic) costs	-44,5
	Tons per planted hectare
Yield	55,3
Cost of production	Euro per ton
Total operating costs	13,87
Total operating and ownership costs	19,2
Total (economic) costs	28,17
Season-average price	25,89

 

* = 0.1 to less than 5 percent.

 

Source: 2000 USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/sb974-8/sb974-8.pdf

 

 

Distribution of sugar beet farms by farm typology group, 2000

 

Small <250 000 USD (low sales) 13%

Small <250 000 USD (high sales) 27%

 

Small family farms, those with annual sales of $250,000 and under, accounted for 40 percent of all sugar beet farms but contributed only 16 percent of the total sugar beet production.

 

Large >250 000: 31%

Very Large >250 000: large: 22%

 

Large family farms (annual sales more than $250,000) accounted for 53 percent of all sugar beet farms and just over three-fourths of the sugar beet production.

 

Others 7%

 

Enterprise size is an acreage measure which in this report is one of five categories: farms with fewer than 50 sugar beet acres, 50-149 sugar beet acres, 150-249 sugar beet acres, 250-499 sugar beet acres, and 500 or more sugar beet acres.

 

 

Sugar Beet Farming – How ”Sweet” is it?

 

Few of us know that more than half of US sugar production comes from sugar beets. (Most of the rest comes from sugarcane.) US sugar beet production has grown significantly over the past decade, tied primarily to expanded processing capacity among sugar beet factories. US farmers produced 33 million tons of sugar beets on 640 000 hectares in 2000, versus 28 million tons of sugar beets on 566 000 hectares in 1990. Most sugar beets were processed in 26 factories near production areas to minimize transportation costs and deterioration of sugar content.

 

US sugar beets are generally grown in areas with cooler climates; however, some sugar beets are grown in warmer climates like the Imperial Valley of California.

 

US sugar beet producers incurred operating costs (inputs, hired labour, etc.) averaging 13,87 Euro per ton of sugar beets in 2000; and total costs (including depreciation in farm machinery, value of land and operator labour) averaged 28,17 Euro per ton. But costs vary widely among farmers due to differences in yields, input use, irrigation, farm size, and location.

 

At the 2000 average market price of 25,83 Euro per ton of sugar beets, 88 percent of US sugar beet producers were able to cover their operating costs and 35 percent were able to cover their total (economic) costs. In 2000, producers had the opportunity to participate in the payment-in-kind (PIK) diversion program to destroy sugar beets on a specified number of hectares in return for a like amount of government-owned sugar. With the 2000 diversion program providing nearly three-quarters of producers an average of 82 Euro worth of sugar per planted hectare, 89 percent of producers were able to cover their operating costs and 43 percent were able to cover their total (economic) costs of sugar beet production.

 

 

Other factors you should be aware of

 

It is illegal for farmers to distribute fertilisers in their fields after a certain date in some countries. F example in Norway, it is illegal to distribute fertilisers after October 1^st.

 

A farmer needs at least one week without (heavy) rain before he is able to use distribute the fertiliser, so occasionally; he will have to ask the government for a dispensation from the regulation if it has rained constantly for a long period prior to the deadline. If he distributes the fertiliser during heavy rainfall, the result will be that the fertiliser is washed away with the water to the nearby rivers.

 

Prices of natural gas, which is used to produce ammonia - the main input in all nitrogen fertilisers, is the primary factor in the pricing of nitrogen based fertiliser. Between June 2007 and June 2008, natural gas prices increased more than 65 percent. As a result, the cost to produce nitrogen fertiliser increased. However, the price dropped sharply in 2009 and continue to drop in 2010.

 

In 2007, 58 million tons of fertilisers were shipped to US agricultural producers by ocean freight, railroads, trucks, barges, and pipelines.