Test harvestings 2020

We started the test harvestings in 2020 on July 27th. In the regions Rheinland and Söllingen we will begin harvesting on August 10th. Until the middle/end of October we will harvest every two weeks in the regions. The results can be find here after the sugar beets analysis a few days later.

For more than 50 years Strube is carrying out sample harvests in sugar beet fields every two weeks from the end of July to the end of october in Germany. The results of our test harvestings can be found in the tables below, beginning in the first week of august.

Test harvestings news

August 3rd 2020 | In the regions of southern Germany, the test harvestings of July 27th yielded at the previous year's level. The amount of leaves is above average. In the Rheinland and Söllingen regions, we will begin testing sugar beet fields on the 10th of the month August.

Good sowing conditions were followed by a dry April, and comparatively little rain fell in May as well. The field emergence was problematic if the sowing was too flat or if the drill coulters were running unevenly in depth. Due to the lack of soil water connection, the beets did not emerge equally and so-called "storayed beets" developed.

In the centre and south of Germany, comparatively little damage due to virus yellow has been observed so far, while in the west the infestation on a small area is quite considerable.

Cooler or warmer, drier or wet:…

Monthly sums of precipitation in the…

"storeyed beets" - fields with unequal…

"storeyed beets" - unequal developed…

"storeyed beets" two months later in…

August 14th 2020 | In all regions despite of Straubing we reach sugar contents above the average. Combinated with strongly differing rot yields between the tested regions, the sugar yields are differing enormously: 23 % above in the region of Rheinland or 10 % under the long-term medium in the region of Ochsenfurt.

27.08.2020 | Two people were needed to harvest the beets in the Söllingen/Wolfenbüttel area in August. This is because the soil has dried up to now to 0 percent nFk down to a depth of 30 cm. The maps of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research show the most affected regions and the temporal course of soil moisture (UFZ-Dürremonitor/ Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung).

video: Test harvestings in the August region Söllingen/Wolfenbüttel: Two people are needed to grub the beets from the dried-out and hard soil as loss-free as possible.

September 7th 2020 | Regionally, pressure from leaf diseases is still high at times. Taking into account the rodenticide deadline and waiting period, the last fungicide measures have been completed.
The first harvest estimate by the German Sugar Industry Association is a federal average of 72.6 t/ha beet yield with a sugar content of 18.1 percent. Nationwide a production of 4.13 million tons of sugar is expected. The harvest forecast of the EU Commission's agricultural monitoring estimates the beet yield in Germany at 75.3 t/ha, 3.6 percent higher than in 2019.
The sample harvesting results show how gratefully and efficiently the sugar beet converts every drop of water that has fallen in the last 14 days into yield.

Results of our test harvestings

region Rheinland (Titz/Vettweiß) 19th October

11 fields

soil type luvisol (para brown earth)
ground points (valuation index of fields) 70 - 95
plant density 70.000 to 110.000 plants per hectare
date of sowing 28th to 11th April 2020

Precipitation in mm	2020	2019	2018	ø 2010-2019
01.10.-31.03.	449	342	322	308
01.04.-04.10.	218	288	182	388
05.10.-19.10.	14	31	0	20
01.01.-19.10.	467	523	333	557

	SBY	SC	WSC	SY	WSY	K	Na	AmN	SML	leaf weight
	t/ha	%	%	t/ha	t/ha	mmol/1000 g sugar beet			%	%
10.08.2020	60,4	18,5	16,5	11,19	9,97	36,2	4,9	18,6	1,42	-
24.08.2020	77,3	16,0	14,2	12,40	10,98	29,0	4,3	15,0	1,24	-
07.09.2020	88,8	17,2	15,4	15,27	13,65	31,3	4,7	13,4	1,23	-
21.09.2020	88,6	19,4	17,5	17,17	15,50	31,8	4,5	15,4	1,29	-
05.10.2020	98,3	18,0	16,2	17,74	15,92	29,0	4,6	15,4	1,25	-
19.10.2020	101,1	18,3	16,4	18,45	16,58	30,3	4,3	14,9	1,25	-

21.10.2019	82,8	18,0	16,0	14,88	13,25	30,9	4,1	19,5	1,37	-
22.10.2018	77,4	19,4	17,3	15,00	13,40	34,9	4,3	21,6	1,47	-
23.10.2017	113,7	18,7	16,8	21,24	19,06	31,5	3,0	17,4	1,31	-
ø 2015-2019	91,9	18,6	16,6	17,05	15,28	32,3	4,0	17,3	1,33	-
19.10.2020 rel.	110	98	99	108	109	94	107	86	94	-

Caption: SBY - sugar beet yield, SC - sugar content, WSC - white sugar content, SY - sugar yield, WSY - white sugar yield (white sugar), K - potassium, Na - sodium, AmN - amino-N-content, SML - standard molasses loss, leaf weight - in percent based on the beet yield

region Söllingen (Helmstedt/Wolfenbüttel) 19th October

5 fields

soil type luvisol (para brown earth)
ground points (valuation index of fields) 75 - 95
plant density 95.000 to 115.000 plants per hectare
date of sowing 1st to 3rd April 2020

Precipitation in mm	2020	2019	2018	ø 2010-2019
01.10.-31.03.	293	233	281	282
01.04.-04.10.	192	294	137	344
05.10.-19.10.	29	18	0	22
01.01.-19.10.	387	446	247	486

	SBY	SC	WSC	SY	WSY	K	Na	AmN	SML	leaf weight
	t/ha	%	%	t/ha	t/ha	mmol/1000 g sugar beet			%	%
10.08.2020	52,4	18,4	16,2	9,65	8,51	38,9	6,1	22,7	1,57	71
24.08.2020	61,9	18,5	16,5	11,46	10,24	35,7	5,5	16,1	1,36	60
07.09.2020	78,3	18,4	16,4	14,41	12,85	36,1	5,8	16,8	1,39	46
21.09.2020	76,9	20,6	18,6	15,85	14,30	34,2	5,6	18,7	1,41	40
05.10.2020	89,1	19,4	17,5	17,29	15,60	32,9	5,4	14,4	1,29	38
19.10.2020	97,3	18,6	16,7	18,11	16,28	33,9	5,3	13,5	1,27	36

21.10.2019	97,6	19,4	17,6	18,95	17,21	31,6	3,3	11,7	1,18	29
22.10.2018	75,1	21,4	19,4	16,10	14,61	34,9	3,0	18,7	1,39	30
23.10.2017	95,1	18,5	16,9	17,58	16,06	27,9	3,2	6,2	1,00	37
ø 2015-2019	88,1	19,2	17,4	16,92	15,36	31,6	3,2	11,1	1,16	36
19.10.2020 rel.	110	97	96	107	106	107	166	121	109	99

Caption: SBY - sugar beet yield, SC - sugar content, WSC - white sugar content, SY - sugar yield, WSY - white sugar yield, K - potassium, Na - sodium, AmN - amino-N-content, SML - standard molasses loss, leaf weight - in percent based on the beet yield

region Zeitz (middle and east of Thüringen) 5th October

3 fields

soil type luvisol (para brown earth)
ground points (valuation index of fields) 63 - 85
plant density 80.000 to 95.000 plants per hectare
date of sowing 26. bis 31. März 2020

Precipitation in mm	2020	2019	2018	ø 2010 - 2019
01.10.-31.03.	224	189	230	217
01.04.-20.09.	263	231	213	334
21.09.-05.10.	42	34	16	20
01.01.-05.10.	422	366	321	443

	SBY	SC	WSC	SY	WSY	K	Na	AmN	SML	leaf weight
	t/ha	%	%	t/ha	t/ha	mmol/1000 g sugar beet			%	%
27.07.2020	33,2	18,2	16,2	6,04	5,40	34,7	5,7	14,7	1,32	131
10.08.2020	42,0	19,5	17,4	8,21	7,32	45,2	4,2	18,3	1,51	79
24.08.2020	62,2	16,4	14,6	10,2	9,07	32,7	3,2	12,6	1,21	67
07.09.2020	73,4	17,1	15,2	12,58	11,17	41,1	3,5	12,5	1,32	52
21.09.2020	71,6	19,2	17,2	13,78	12,30	45,5	4,8	15,6	1,46	53
05.10.2020	77,7	20,3	18,6	15,73	14,41	32,6	2,3	8,2	1,10	31

07.10.2019	59,9	19,7	17,9	11,78	10,73	33,8	2,5	9,9	1,15	32

region Wetterau (Mittelhessen) 5th October

3 fields

soil type luvisol (para brown earth)
ground points (valuation index of fields) 70 - 80
plant density 70.000 to 110.000 plants per hectare
date of sowing March 27th until April 4th 2020

Precipitation in mm	2020	2019	2018	ø 2010 - 2019
01.10.-31.03.	382	234	316	249
01.04.-20.09.	208	311	246	364
21.09.-05.10.	26	65	5	24
01.01.-05.10.	428	501	400	490

	SBY	SC	WSC	SY	WSY	K	Na	AmN	SML	leaf weight
	t/ha	%	%	t/ha	t/ha	mmol/1000 g sugar beet			%	%
27.07.2020	38,1	17,9	16,0	6,82	6,09	38,8	5,4	12,1	1,30	102
10.08.2020	48,2	20,4	18,0	9,85	8,67	47,9	7,1	29,2	1,84	63
24.08.2020	61,0	17,8	15,6	10,83	9,53	40,1	5,4	21,0	1,53	49
07.09.2020	68,9	17,9	15,9	12,35	10,98	38,7	5,1	16,2	1,39	50
21.09.2020	75,3	19,4	17,3	14,60	13,01	41,2	5,7	19,9	1,52	44
05.10.2020	79,8	19,1	17,1	15,30	13,68	40,0	5,7	16,3	1,42	45

07.10.2019	93,4	18,9	17,2	17,68	16,03	30,3	3,4	12,1	1,17	51
08.10.2018	75,4	19,7	17,9	14,87	13,47	33,8	3,9	13,8	1,26	29
09.10.2017	116,3	18,4	16,7	21,41	19,47	31,7	1,4	7,7	1,06	47
ø 2015-2019	90,3	18,9	17,0	17,09	15,39	32,6	3,6	15,2	1,28	44
05.10.2020 rel.	88	101	100	90	89	123	160	107	111	101

region Ochsenfurt (Franken) 5th October

3 fields

soil type luvisol (para brown earth) / brown earth
ground points (valuation index of fields) 75 - 95
plant density 75.000 to 103.000 plants per hectare

Precipitation in mm	2020	2019	2018	ø 2010 - 2019
01.10.-31.03.	286	223	286	254
01.04.-20.09.	226	269	231	343
21.09.-05.10.	29	68	1	25
01.01.-05.10.	406	419	365	468

	SBY	SC	WSC	SY	WSY	K	Na	AmN	SML	leaf weight
	t/ha	%	%	t/ha	t/ha	mmol/1000 g sugar beet			%	%
27.07.2020	39,5	19,4	17,2	7,65	6,80	42,4	6,1	20,3	1,55	85
10.08.2020	44,6	21,4	19,1	9,54	8,51	41,4	5,6	27,9	1,71	57
24.08.2020	55,7	20,3	18,1	11,30	10,10	34,8	4,3	25,5	1,56	57
07.09.2020	64,4	18,9	17,0	12,18	10,93	33,8	4,7	16,2	1,33	26
21.09.2020	68,8	20,1	18,1	13,82	12,43	37,9	4,5	18,0	1,42	20
05.10.2020	70,7	20,1	18,2	14,24	12,90	35,1	4,2	14,5	1,30	22

07.10.2019	96,7	17,8	15,9	17,21	15,36	31,4	6,7	15,9	1,32	24
08.10.2018	85,0	19,9	17,9	16,92	15,21	31,6	3,7	21,5	1,42	20
09.10.2017	124,7	18,2	16,2	22,63	20,21	37,4	2,7	16,1	1,35	41
ø 2016 - 2019	101,8	18,5	16,8	18,81	17,07	36,1	6,8	19,5	1,46	67
05.10.2020 rel.	70	109	109	76	76	97	62	75	89	32

region Straubing/Plattling (Südbayern) 5th October

3 fields

soil type luvisol (para brown earth)
ground points (valuation index of fields) 60 - 80
plant density 87.000 to 90.000 plants per hectare
date of sowing 28th until 31th March 2020

Precipitation in mm	2020	2019	2018	ø 2010 - 2019
01.10.-31.03.	276	333	354	287
01.04.-20.09.	319	310	260	402
21.09.-05.10.	61	36	3	20
01.01.-05.10.	524	493	407	548

	SBY	SC	WSC	SY	WSY	K	Na	AmN	SML	leaf weight
	t/ha	%	%	t/ha	t/ha	mmol/1000 g sugar beet			%	%
27.07.2020	48,1	16,0	14,2	7,71	6,82	37,8	3,1	11,6	1,25	143
10.08.2020	65,4	15,9	14,1	10,40	9,25	34,9	2,4	9,4	1,15	104
24.08.2020	75,7	17,2	15,5	13,04	11,72	33,3	2,2	10,3	1,15	82
07.09.2020	91,6	16,8	15,2	15,35	13,90	25,4	1,7	7,7	0,99	70
21.09.2020	95,0	18,7	17,1	17,76	16,22	26,9	1,9	8,0	1,02	62
05.10.2020	103,1	18,4	16,8	18,96	17,32	26,8	2,0	7,3	1,00	56

07.10.2019	105,7	18,0	16,1	19,06	17,07	42,6	2,0	11,5	1,29	42
08.10.2018	103,4	19,8	18,0	20,47	18,63	31,5	1,5	12,6	1,18	32
09.10.2017	105,4	19,6	17,9	20,62	18,88	29,3	1,9	8,3	1,05	51
ø 2015-2019	100,9	19,3	17,5	19,45	17,68	34,7	1,7	10,0	1,16	44
05.10.2020 rel.	102	95	96	97	98	77	118	73	86	128

Graph: Root yield and sugar content of test harvestings every fortheen days from the end of july until the middle/end of october

Within the scope of the test harvestings, the beets are harvested and headed by hand. The beet yields can therefore be up to 10 percent higher than the practical results.