Stephen Cadogan: Long finished in Ireland, Mercosur could soon end European sugar beet 

In just five years since 2017, 15 factories closed, and 27,000 farmers stopped growing sugar beet

Brazil is the source for 15% of the EU's sugar imports, entering the EU free of import duty.

Farmers have warned the EU is dragging the sugar beet sector to disaster.

The end of beet processing in 2006 was keenly felt across Ireland, but there have been as many bad years as good for the industry in the EU since then.