Even amid low sugar prices, many Ukrainian farmers continue to include sugar beets in their crop rotations, not only those integrated with sugar processing facilities, ProAgro Group reports.

According to National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine (Ukrtsukor) Head Yana Kavushevska, farms that consistently grow sugar beets manage to remain profitable thanks to expertise and well-established production technologies, despite price volatility. She shared these insights in an interview with The Ukrainian Farmer.

“I recently spoke with several farm owners who harvested around 700 centners per hectare with a sugar content of 18% and earned $700–800 per hectare. Of course, even these farms are considering reducing beet acreage next season, but sugar beets will definitely remain in crop rotations. It is a good crop, an excellent predecessor, and offers guaranteed sales with short logistics chains,” Kavushevska noted.

She also emphasized that sugar plays a special role for Ukrainian producers.

“With proper storage, sugar does not spoil and can be sold on the domestic market or used to settle accounts with landowners. Importantly, sugar can be exported by road transport, without reliance on ports, which are currently a bottleneck. From 2022 through early 2024, Ukrainian sugar exports were largely carried out by truck,” Kavushevska added.

As reported earlier, despite a significant reduction in sugar beet acreage in 2025, the decline in sugar production was minimal due to record yields and higher sugar content of the roots.

Source: AgroTimes