Yield and plant population in sugar beet

Extract

Three years of subsidised sugar-beet growing in England has made clear the chief agricultural features of the crop. Many of our soils suit it well; the climate is favourable; it fits satisfactorily into some of our typical rotations. With the 1928 crop will come into operation the first of the subsidy reductions. The consequential change in standard price per ton of beet—46s. instead of 54s. as in 1925–7—has aroused anxious interest in the likelihood that the crop will outlive the subsidy. What price the factories will be able to offer on termination of the subsidy is not yet known. It will, of course, be decided by world-prices of sugar. Values between 30s. and 35s. per ton have been tentatively suggested. It has been claimed, further, that any price which covers cost of production will make the crop an asset to English agriculture because of the benefit to following crops. Whatever the strength of this claim farmers are and will continue to be anxiously concerned about net monetary return per acre. Now this return is governed by three factors—cost of growing, yield per acre, and price per ton. Costs of growing are not likely to alter substantially. Price per ton is considerably influenced by sugar content. The factories have devoted much effort to routine sampling and testing of deliveries but have not convinced farmers that their ascertainments are reliable. It may well be doubted whether any workable factory testing can be devised to ensure accuracy to 1 per cent, of sugar content.