Crop Yield Forecasting

Communicating the crop yield forecast to everyone in the sugar industry

The crop yield forecast inputs into the calculation to estimate the total UK crop. This helps British Sugar predict factory running dates and diversions. The forecast process starts in the spring with Crop Area Declarations from growers, root digs continue the process through the growing season, and beet intake data is analysed during the Campaign to map the factory and UK yields as they progress.

Sharing this information regularly with growers, hauliers, and harvesters will allow them to make better-informed business decisions. Growers will be able to benchmark their yield against the factory and UK average. Harvesters and hauliers will also have a better indication of the likely factory close date, allowing them to plan their post-Campaign workload.

What actions are we taking?

Getting a crop forecast for each factory early in the Campaign is challenging because the information on the actual field being delivered to calculate yields is limited. We want to work with growers to overcome this and to collect field-level yield data to enhance the crop forecast.

We have adapted our crop forecast to include a ‘best estimate’ and ‘potential range’. We are collaborating with other workstreams in the Field-to-Factory Partnership to produce a communication plan for the campaign so everyone can be continually informed.

Crop Yield Forecasting

What actions are we taking?

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