Sugar beet in Austria

Sugar beet

The raw material for sugar production in Austria is the sugar beet, an agricultural crop belonging to the amaranth family. The sugar beet places high demands on soil quality, fertilization, plant protection, and crop rotation, and requires a great deal of experience from farmers. The main cultivation areas in Austria are Lower Austria, Burgenland, and Upper Austria. Sugar beet is sown between mid-March and early April, depending on climatic conditions, and harvested between mid-September and the end of November.

In Austria, sugar beet was cultivated on 43,000 hectares in 2024. A hot summer, followed by heavy rainfall and flooding in September, complicated the growing season in 2024. Weather conditions also determine the sugar content of the beets, which averages between 16 and 17 percent.

Sugar is produced at the sugar factories in Tulln and Leopoldsdorf during the processing campaign. The sugar produced at these facilities is marketed under the brand name "Wiener Zucker."

The sugar quota system expired on 30 September 2017. Under the Regulation establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013), only a few instruments remain in place for the sugar sector, such as the possibility of private storage, an interprofessional agreement between sugar beet growers and the sugar industry, and a certain level of external market protection. These instruments will also remain in place under the future Common Agricultural Policy.