SUGAR BEET growers in the East Midlands are being urged to join the NFU’s Shout for Sugar campaign.

The campaign will be launched at the Lincolnshire Show on Wed (Jun 22).

The NFU’s senior food and farming adviser for the region Simon Fisher said: “Growers have had a taste of what the European Commission’s proposals to reform the sugar regime could be.

“The price cuts would mean that there would be few if any sugar beet growers left in the region.

“The factories would close and thousands of jobs and businesses in the rural community would be lost or face severe financial hardship.

“We want every grower to join the campaign to fight for their industry.”

Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire account for over 20% of the nation’s sugar beet production. 

Sugar beet is grown on 7600 holdings in the region, producing around 1.8 million tonnes of raw beet, with a farmgate value of £51.2 million.

“Losing sugar beet production in the region would not just be a farming tragedy,” said Mr Fisher.

“The loss of habitats would also impact on our wildlife too.”