Euskirchen's beet farmers fight: best harvest despite adverse conditions!
Euskirchen's beet farmers fight: best harvest despite adverse conditions!
In Euskirchen, the beet campaign experienced an earlier start this September than was the case in recent years. Instead of waiting until the end of September, the harvest began on September 19. This gives farmers an important opportunity to achieve a positive breakthrough after the difficult conditions of the previous year, in which a lot of rain makes it difficult to harvest a positive breakthrough
Andreas Gehlen, head of agriculture in the Euskirchen sugar factory of Pfeifer & Langen, talks about the challenges with which the beet farmers are confronted. The sensitive young plants in particular suffer from the conditions. "The beet fought through," explains Gehlen and refers to the adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the year. Despite the unfavorable circumstances, he believes in the robustness of the plants.
yield and quality in view
The yields in this year's campaign are expected to be above average. Dr. Karl Otto Ditges, farmer from Derkum, emphasizes that the combination of warm days and cool nights has positively influenced the sugar yield. "It was sugar weather," he says, referring to the good conditions for sugar formation.
In the moment an impressive number of 440 truck loads full of loaded beets are rolling to the factory every day. The traditional delivery by farmers has decreased sharply because more than 90 percent of the transports are organized by contractors and machine rings. The classic beet transport with open followers is a thing of the past.
sustainability in sugar production
Markus Coenen, the production manager of the factory, emphasizes the sustainable orientation of sugar production. No raw material is wasted when processing the beets. The beet chips that remain after the sugar extraction are used as cattle feed or are used in paper production. In addition, Pfeifer & Langen plans to further process the dry remnants of the beet schnitzel in a biogas plant.
An area in which the factory becomes active is the change in its energy use. A kettle in the factory has already been converted to wood pellets that act as a sustainable alternative to the previously used lignite. Gas is also used for energy generation. The aim of the company is to work climate -neutral by 2040, which underlines the laying of the location in the future.
summarized it is shown that the sugar beet campaign in Euskirchen is not only under the sign of a previous start, but also has a clear focus on sustainability and high quality. In the interaction of agriculture and modern production method, a fundamental contribution in the region including new perspectives for the future will be made here. This certainly leads to an intensive discussion about the development of local agriculture and sugar production. For more information about these developments, a detailed report www.ksta.de referred.
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