End is nigh for sugar beet

SUGAR produced by Greencore in 2006 will be liable for a restructuring levy of €126.40 per tonne, said Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan last week.

She also announced that Ireland’s €145 million restructuring aid does not depend on beet being delivered in the year before sugar quota renunciation.

Both announcements are likely to prompt many of the 3,700 growers which Greencore says it needs, if the company is to process sugar beet this year, to opt for other crops instead.