The yearly sugar beet campaign, when the crop is harvested and processed, officially begins at British Sugar’s plant in Bury St Edmunds today.

British Sugar announced its 2012/13 sugar beet campaign start dates last month following talks with the National Farmers Union (NFU) and growers.

The factory starts for the 2012/13 campaign are today for Bury St Edmunds, Newark and Wissington, and Tuesday, September 25, for Cantley.

Colm McKay, British Sugar’s agriculture director, said choosing a start date was about balancing various different factors and had been carried out in consultation with farmers.

“Having discussed dates with the NFU and gaining feedback from our growers, the campaign start dates have been chosen to strike a balance between the crop benefiting from recently improved weather conditions and deliveries to our customers,” he said.