British farmers fear their sugar beet will go the way of the crop in Ireland, where it hasn’t been grown for sugar since 2006. The crop is also in trouble in France, where last week’s freezing temperatures may have caused severe damage to newly planted sugar beet, adding to problems with crop disease and low prices in recent seasons. More and more British farmers are giving up the crop, saying it’s no longer profitable to grow. The UK’s National Farmers’ Union said recent measures by processor British Sugar are nowhere near enough to stop many growers giving up sugar beet for good when their current contracts finish. The NFU’s Michael Sly said low sugar contract prices, and much greater risks of yield loss from disease, are making sugar beet a non-viable part of the crop rotation for many growers. As a result, the area planted in 2021 is estimated to be reduced by 10-15%. It follows a crop damaged by heavy rains in February, 2020, then the driest May since 1862, and more heavy winter rain which caused harvesting difficulties.