The demand for table beets is not comparable to the popularity of other vegetables, but many farmers keep this crop in their fields. Farmers from different parts of our large country talk about the reasons why they continue to grow it, the main difficulties of the current season and the prospects for a good harvest.
Andrey Starostin, KFH Starostin A. N., Novgorod region
- The climate this year is very, very bad. At first, spring frosts intervened in our plans, and as a result, the seedlings of vegetable crops, which we planted earlier, suffered. The white cabbage had to be replanted, and the 20-centimeter potato tops practically grew back.
For about a month and a half there was no precipitation at all, not a drop. In places where the soils are sandy, table beet seedlings did not even appear, only on peat bogs, which release moisture more slowly. The rains began only in the last days of June, the earth was gradually saturated with water, and then sprouts slowly began to sprout. The same is true for other vegetables. Vegetation is lagging far behind, and the situation in our region and neighboring regions is especially difficult for carrots.
All this will affect the marketability of products, and the delay in maturation entails new serious risks. In our northwestern region, you need to harvest as early as possible before the first frosts begin. If we don't make it before the cold weather, we'll suffer additional losses.
On our farm, we keep the area under beets at the level of 6-7 hectares. But in the region, its popularity is falling, because few people are interested in a culture that “shoots” at a price once every few years. Plus low demand in the market and problems with implementation.
Sales of products go through the cooperative of agricultural producers "Novgorod agrarian", which, in addition to us, includes 10 more founders. We work mainly with retail chains, which, of course, saves us. The wholesale market has dipped heavily, and an ever smaller volume of goods is sold through it. Convenience stores located in residential areas have already been almost completely replaced by large players.
I think retailers are the future in the vegetable trade. Without them, farmers with large production volumes will have zero sales, and everyone understands this very well. Networks are more willing to cooperate with those who grow not individual crops, but the whole set of borscht. It turns out that they determine the activities of Russian vegetable growers.
Pavel Cherdyntsev, KFH Cherdyntsev P. V., Volgograd region
- The weather in our region is slightly different from last year. The new season is cooler, especially at night, but these conditions are better for crops. And now the condition of the plants in the fields of the farm suits me completely.
Table beet occupies only 8 hectares, because we do not rely on it, we treat it as a by-product. If they buy 15 tons of potatoes or onions from us, then they can take a couple of tons of beets for assortment.
This culture is not the most promising and profitable for the south of Russia. Local producers prefer cucumber, tomato, onion, bell and hot peppers, watermelon, melon. It is advisable to grow beets in regions much north of ours, where artificial irrigation is not required. For example, in the Tula and Moscow regions, farmers plant it on hundreds of hectares and harvest it with combines, ensuring a low cost.
Today, there is as much young beetroot on the market as you want, but the prices are not at all high. In winter and spring, there are short periods when sales are a little more expensive, so in order to earn money, you need to hold on to production for almost a year. We have good storage facilities, and I never sell crops in the fall, I give a chance to earn money to those who cannot wait for price increases. When the cost of vegetables rises, I start selling. Last winter, I gave beetroot for 15-18 rubles per kilogram, and in the networks it was already offered for 25-28 rubles.
For a year now, we have been working with retail - both with a more expensive segment and with a budget one. There they expect better quality from us than in the wholesale market, but the requirements are not as high as for potatoes. If you drop the price, you can agree on the supply of beets with non-ideal product characteristics.
So far, about 60% of our products go online. This provides some stability, and you no longer want to deal with intermediaries. They greatly underestimate the prices of vegetables and often behave like unscrupulous partners. They allow themselves to order goods, then cancel the order without good reason and still find reasons for fines. But cooperation with retailers does not give full confidence in the future. If all the major chains end up in the hands of one owner, he will become a monopolist and will set uniform prices that are unfavorable for us. We'll have to obey, and then the small agricultural producers will come to an end.
Nikolai Shapoval, KFH Shapoval N. A., Kemerovo region
- Like a year ago, the climatic conditions for the agricultural sector in our region are worse than ever. The worst drought! In general, there were precipitations, but very scarce, even the ground did not really get wet. Having looked at the rare shoots of table beet, they decided to reseed it. Unfortunately, you can’t do the same with carrots, it turned out to be too late. After that, nature was generous with the rain, and for the second time the culture nevertheless rose.
In farms where irrigation is organized, the situation is, of course, better than ours. But in any case, the harvest of vegetables due to natural anomalies in the entire region will be less than expected. Yes, and the cleaning time is shifted to a later time. And our winter is early, already in September the first frosts come, and we do not always have time to clean.
The area under beets on the farm does not increase, but does not decrease either. We just keep growing little by little. It is not as popular among consumers as potatoes, cabbage or carrots, and in general is not a strategically important product. Even if it doesn't come out, it's not a big problem, you can always bring in a few wagons from neighboring countries, then there will be enough for the entire region.
I sell vegetable products on the wholesale market, without really delving into whether I give them to intermediaries or retailers. I don’t work with trading networks, because I don’t want to fall into slavery. If they change their rhetoric and attitude towards agricultural producers, I am ready to consider options for cooperation. But while retailers are behaving extremely arrogantly, offering enslaving terms of contracts, they are constantly looking for reasons for which to collect a penalty. Let it take me more time to implement, but I will not depend on someone and pay fines at every step.
Sergey Soin, KFH Soin S. N., Moscow region
This season has been hot and dry for us. In early May, a little rain fell on the fields, and only after almost two months did the first real rain come. And last year, on the contrary, the season began favorably, but during the second half of the summer there was no precipitation.
First, we planted 6 hectares of table beets, but did not get normal shoots, so we added three more. The heat does not subside, it is not known whether we will wait for regular rainfall, and I am afraid that the seedlings will again be bad. Part of the beet sprouts already looks good, the other is just making its way out of the ground. If the weather does not improve, many agricultural crops will suffer, and it is already possible to predict a decrease in the level of vegetable yields.
For a long time I have been growing a borscht set almost in full. In the region, not all vegetable farms produce table beets, although those who plant constantly do not give up. There are no special problems with it, the main thing here is not to make a mistake with agricultural chemistry. The culture is heavily overgrown with weeds, manual labor is required for weeding, and human resources are currently lacking.
As for the implementation, it does not happen year after year. It happens that beets are in demand, and they take them very well, but there are periods when no one needs them. Yes, and in the average season at a decent price, it is usually difficult to sell a vegetable.
During the harvest, all our products are immediately stored, and only then, without haste and fuss, the sale begins. The farm has long been working with an intermediary company that supplies vegetables to retail chains. In fact, we initially offer a network product packaged by weight and packaged, on which it remains only to stick a label.
I also signed an agreement with networks and, perhaps, will soon begin to cooperate with them. However, I know from my colleagues that such a document still does not guarantee anything. Retailers are always unhappy with something, and they refuse vegetable products under various pretexts. Either they do it on purpose to impose their conditions, or they have enough existing suppliers.
It seems to me that it is difficult for small producers to interact with retail chains. This work requires a whole department with its own staff of specialists who must monitor applications, organize delivery, monitor logistics and meet deadlines. We got used to it in a different way: we grew it, collected it, shipped it near the warehouse, and the job is done.
Irina Berg