At the conference of the Board of Trustees for Experimental Research and Advisory Services in Sugar Beet Cultivation on January 13th, 2026, the outlook for the future was positive despite the current situation.
Sugar beet cultivation is currently facing many challenges: Disease infestation by SBR and Stolbur, as well as leaf diseases such as Cercospora, are causing yields to plummet and reducing sugar content.
But there is every reason for hope: The board of trustees was able to develop a targeted control strategy and verify its success in the 2025 growing season. This stabilized sugar content in heavily infested regions despite SBR infestation. After the slump in sugar yields in 2023, things are now looking up again. However, the long-term goal for combating the diseases remains resistant breeds.
At the Board of Trustees' meeting, there were numerous presentations on this and other topics in the sugar industry for farmers, consultants, and representatives from politics and research.
We had a reason to celebrate: Our colleague Philipp Friedrich was awarded the South German Sugar Industry Sponsorship Prize by Jugendförderung Franken for his master's thesis. In his master's thesis at green spin, Philipp combined drone and satellite data to create a model for detecting stress in sugar beet plants. A representative from Südzucker also believes that this approach is worth pursuing further. Congratulations to Philipp and the other three award winners!
Not all problems in sugar beet cultivation have been solved, but the board of trustees is certain that we are on the right track. We at green spin also want to continue working on solutions for disease detection in sugar beets.