German sugar beet planted area up 3,7%
German farmers have expanded sugar beet plantings in 2018 by 3,7% on the year to 421,600 hectares, German's national statistics office said on Tuesday.
It is reported by Reuters.
The increase was achieved despite poor weather which hindered the start of sugar beet sowing in Germany, the European Union's second largest beet producer.
Europe’s farmers are now free to plant as much sugar beet as they wish following the EU’s sugar market liberalisation in September 2017 which ended production quotas and linked EU prices to world markets.
But EU sugar markets have been struggling with a sharp fall in prices following the liberalisation.