A recent report on the sugar ban frustrates the ecologist: "Honestly, I don't think you can be proud of it."
Økologisk NuOn August 25th, a statement from Nordic Sugar announced that the company will shut down the production of organic sugar in Denmark. In other words, Danish-produced organic sugar will no longer be available. Torben Bang is one of the producers who grow organic sugar beets, and he is surprised that the news of the closure was announced so late to the farmers. "The biggest problem is that we are only getting the information now. If this had come two or three months ago, we could have adapted better, but now we have already spent time preparing for there to be beets in the ground next year," he tells Organic Now. The large amount of wasted effort is what frustrates Torben Bang the most about the news. "To be honest, I don't think it's something one can be proud of." He has spent many hours. For Torben Bang, organic sugar beets have accounted for about 25% of his production over the last five to six years on his 395-hectare farm in West Funen. Sugar beets have been a time-consuming crop, but also one that has been profitable. "We have spent a lot of the summer keeping them clean, so overall we have spent many hours on it, but at the same time, we have also been paid for it." In addition to losing a profitable crop and now having specialized machinery that can no longer be used, Torben Bang also loses a lot of learned experience. "Generally, it just takes a lot of time to figure out how things work and to develop them, so it's just unfortunate when it goes to waste." Although he regrets having to move away from sugar beets, he still considers whether the experiences can be used in other crops. "We hope, of course, that we can transfer some of what we've learned to another crop, but as a starting point, we are left with machinery that needs to be sold and many years of development work that are now lost." An uncertain future. He hasn't had time to look into exactly what will happen next. "Something else has to go into the ground, and I could imagine that it might be some other row crops or flower seeds that we will grow where we were supposed to have beets, but we haven't made a decision on that yet." For Torben Bang, the future remains uncertain, but one thing is certain: if there is no new buyer for the organic sugar beets, Danish organic sugar will no longer be produced from next year. Nordic Sugar does not wish to comment on the situation but briefly states in an email: "We have no comments on our organic production at the moment. Following yesterday's (Tuesday) announcement, our focus is now on meetings regarding the future for the affected parties."
On August 25, there was an announcement from Nordic Sugar that the company will close the production of organic sugar in Denmark. In other words, it is the end of Danish-produced organic sugar.
Torben Bang is one of the producers who cultivate organic sugar beets, and he is surprised that the news of the closure has come so late to the farmers.
"The biggest problem is, of course, that we are only getting the information now. If this had come two or three months ago, we could have adapted better, but now we have spent the time preparing for there to be beets in the ground next year," he tells Økologisk Nu.
The large amount of wasted work is therefore what frustrates Torben Bang the most about the news.
"To be honest, I don't think it's acceptable."
Have spent many hours
For Torben Bang, the organic sugar beets have accounted for about 25 percent of his production over the last five to six years on his 395-hectare farm in West Funen.
Sugar beets have been a time-consuming crop, but also one that has been profitable.
"We have spent a lot of the summer keeping them clean, so overall we have spent many hours on it, but at the same time, we have also been paid for it."
Besides losing a profitable crop and now being left with specialized machinery that can no longer be used, Torben Bang also loses a lot of learned experience, according to him.
"Generally, it just takes a lot of time to figure out how things work and to develop them, and it’s just unfortunate when it goes to waste."
Although he regrets having to move away from sugar beets, he still considers whether the experiences can be used in other crops.
"Of course, we hope that we can transfer some of what we have learned to another crop, but as a starting point, we are left with machinery that needs to be sold, and many years of development work that are now lost."
An uncertain future
What exactly will happen now, he has not yet had time to look into.
"Something else definitely needs to go into the ground, and I could imagine that it might be some other row crops or some flower seeds that we will end up cultivating where we were supposed to have beets, but we haven't made a decision on that yet."
For Torben Bang, the future is still uncertain, but one thing is certain: if there is no new buyer for the organic sugar beets, there will no longer be Danish organic sugar produced from next year.
Nordic Sugar does not wish to comment on the situation but briefly states in an email:
"We have no comments on our organic production at the moment. Following yesterday's (Tuesday, red.) announcement, our focus now is on meetings about the future for the affected parties."