Farming Simulator 22 has got to be one of the most impressive of the "simulator" games out there. There's something so wholesome about Farming Sim that keeps bringing us back to play.
Sugar beets are one of the more difficult crops to grow in-game as they require a lot of prep to ensure you get the most out of them. So, a guide like ours is key to a good return on this crop. We've got everything you need to know about prep, growing and selling sugar beets in FS22 right here!
Field preparation
Before you can plant your sugar beets, you need to make sure you've got a field that's up to the job. What you'll require though depends on the settings you have enabled in-game. If you have "Periodic plowing required" enabled, your field will have to be ploughed before you can start planting.
To find out if a field has been ploughed, you need to go to the map and if the field is coloured in red, it needs to be ploughed. If not, or if you have this setting disabled, you're good to go.
Something else that's required for a good yield is whether the field has been limed enough. Again, if you're unsure about this, go to the map and filter for whether land is suitably limed or not. If it isn't it will be highlighted a green/blue colour. This only applies when you've got the liming required setting enabled.
If your field does need liming, you'll need to purchase a fertiliser spreader in the in-game store. These cost between $25,000 and $78,000 depending on the type you want.
These steps aren't required even if you have the additional difficulties enabled. However, if you don't prepare you field properly, your yield will be a lot lower. If you're going to do something, you should do it properly and that definitely applies here.
Planting sugar beets
Once your field is prepped, you'll need a planter to get the sugar beets into the ground. Navigate over to the store and ensure that the planter you're looking at can plant sugar beets. This can be checked by looking through the list of plants that appear next to the planter's top speed.
Once you've purchased your planter, attach it to the back of the tractor you're looking at using. Then, it's time to buy the sugar beet seeds, which can again be found via the in-game store. These are found by going into the objects menu then either a big bag or pallet and selecting seeds.
You can't specifically buy sugar beet seeds, but that's not an issue as we'll get into here. Load the seeds into your planter, then travel into the field you're wanting to use. Once you're there, cycle through the seed you're wanting to plant - by pressing Y on PC - until you get to sugar beets. Go over the whole field with the planter and spray those seeds into the ground.
Something else you'll need to keep in mind are the seasons. If you have these disabled, then don't worry, but if you do, you need to ensure that it's either March or April to plant the sugar beets. As for harvesting them, between October and November is best.
Maintenance
The work doesn't stop once you've planted the seeds though, as you'll have to do some maintenance on your field. Weeds can reduce your yield by up to 20% and you can find out if your field has weeds by going to the map and choosing the weed filter. If it's pink, it's got weeds and you could be in trouble.
Don't worry though, there are ways to deal with this. With either a mechanical weeder or sprayer, de-weed the field.
Ensuring that the field is properly fertilised as well is another aspect to growing sugar beets. If your field isn't blue when you apply the "Fertilized" filter, you'll need to do some work to improve that. You can get up to almost 50% more when you harvest your crops, which is a massive increase.
You can fertilise the field by using slurry, manure or digestate. Some seeders can also fertilise at the same time as planting. We recommend using one of these, as it can save you a lot of time and money.
Harvesting & selling
Sugar beets are also complicated to harvest, as you'll need to remove the foliage on them before collecting them. However, technology can help here, as tractors like the Grimme Rexor 6300 Platinum will do both at the same time. This vehicle is excellent, but will set you back almost half a million dollars.
We'd recommend doing this, but if you can't afford it, there are trailers and harvesters that can be attached to powerful tractors that is a cheaper option.
So, you've got your sugar beets harvested, but what next? There are two options here; you can either sell the sugar beets as they are or process them into sugar and sell them that way. Sugar is much more lucrative, so for a good profit do this. You can also feed the sugar beets to livestock, but that's not the best option financially.
Video tutorial
If visually learning and seeing someone carry out the process is best for you to learn, YouTuber Farmer Cop has you covered with a tutorial as always:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdAxy50dvYY