en: Impressions from the 17th Göttingen Sugar Beet Conference

Institute of

BW Farm Economics

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On September 4, 2025, everything in Göttingen revolved around the sugar beet. More than 280 participants from science, advisory, and industry accepted the invitation of the Institute of Sugar Beet Research (IfZ). The conference was opened by Theresa Brandes, who provided insights into greenhouse gas emissions in sugar beet cultivation.

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In 15 presentations, current topics in the sugar sector were addressed: yield formation and ecological assessment, crop protection and digitalisation, diseases and pests, as well as the emerging “Syndrome Basses Richesses” (SBR). Christopher Poeplau from the Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, together with Dennis Grunwald from IfZ, spoke about the development of soil carbon stocks under sugar beet cultivation.

Theresa Brandes examined in her own presentation greenhouse gas emissions in sugar beet cultivation and presented results from typical farms:

With the growing focus on the climate impact of agricultural production, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are becoming an increasingly important metric for political and private sector decision making.
Against this backdrop, the agri benchmark network, a global, non-profit, and independent collaboration of agricultural economists, advisors, and farmers, systematically collects and analyses GHG emissions from typical farms, in addition to data on production systems and economic performance. The aim is to enable robust assessments of the climate impact of different production practices.
GHG emissions are calculated on a crop-specific basis, taking into account all relevant processes within the typical farm. Input quantities (e.g. nitrogen fertilisers) are recorded based on the production systems and multiplied by corresponding emission factors (e.g. direct N₂O emissions in the field). The underlying emission factors are derived from IPCC sources and other scientifically recognised publications.
In Germany, the network includes eight typical farms cultivating sugar beet. For the period 2020-2024, the average GHG emissions for these farms amount to 1,731 kg CO₂_eq per hectare of sugar beet (range 1,247-2,494 kg CO₂_eq/ha). The largest share of emissions is attributed to mineral fertilisation (55 %), particularly nitrogen fertilisers. Diesel use accounts for 26 % of emissions. Additional sources include the production of plant protection products (11 %), crop residues (mainly beet leaves, 7 %), and seed production (1 %).
GHG emission levels are significantly influenced by nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and the climatic conditions of the respective farm location (arid vs. humid). Nitrogen fertilisers thus represent a key emission source in sugar beet cultivation, while improving NUE offers substantial potential for reducing these emissions.