Beet campaign
The beet campaign is the time when the sugar factories process sugar beets . As a rule, it lasts from mid-September to the end of December, and into January for better capacity utilization of the factories.
description
The term campaign , which comes from the military language, makes it clear that the beet campaign must be planned down to the last detail like a campaign so that it runs smoothly. During the campaign, the sugar factory works around the clock because, for example, the evaporation process necessary for sugar production cannot be interrupted. This can be seen from the widely visible steam plumes over the sugar factories. The delivery is logistically controlled in such a way that sufficient raw material is always available. The campaign usually starts in mid to late September and ends around Christmas.
Organized transport of the harvested sugar beet from the farmers' fields to the sugar factory is particularly important at this time . In the past, the sugar beet was delivered directly from the farmers by wagon over short distances; on somewhat longer distances, mainly by rail from selected stations by freight trains to the sugar factory. Loading ramps or special loading devices for entire trailers to be able to tip the beets into the wagons, in large cultivation areas sometimes a branch track to the open field, ensured rapid handling. Long trains with mostly older open freight wagons shaped the image of the railroad in autumn for decades. Low utilization - the corresponding wagons were only used during this short period - as well as politically justified low freight rates for the mostly short distances led Deutsche Bahn AG to withdraw from these transports.
While in Switzerland still today (as of 2015) considerable amounts of sugar beet are transported by rail to the factories (including organic beets from Germany in special freight trains at the beginning of the campaign), in Germany the transport has been almost exclusively direct from the field to open trucks or on trailers behind the tractor . This leads to a greatly increased volume of traffic in the vicinity of the sugar factories, combined with numerous dangers for road traffic . A truck in the middle of the street that is loading beets, lost cargo, roads polluted with field loam or vehicles turning from dirt roads or turning onto dirt roads are the typical sources of danger. It is not without reason that z. For example, the traffic watch gives out annual warnings like this about the dangers of the beet campaign:
- Keep your distance in the beet season, it's for your safety.
In order to increase the understanding of the trucks, some newer models are also labeled with the following slogan on the back:
- As long as sugar beet cannot be sent by email, we will have to share the road.
Some of the trucks and their trailers are only used in the campaign from September to December and therefore have a seasonal license plate or, in Germany, are equipped with a green plate as agricultural vehicles .
The older open freight wagons for the Swiss beet campaign have been replaced by containers since 2015. These can be used with universal flat wagons .
During the beet campaign, the permanent staff in the sugar factories used to be increased by numerous seasonal workers; thanks to larger transport units and greater mechanization, only a few additional staff are required today.
literature
- Urs Kramer , Bruno Schötz: Beet trains. Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-613-71149-4 .
Web links
- Beet campaign on agrarheute.com
- The beet campaign starts , as of September 7, 2011
- Information on marschundfoerde.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefan Boss: SBB Cargo is testing containers for transporting sugar beet. In: sbbcargo.com. February 2, 2015, accessed December 5, 2019 .