Farmers with fields of frozen sugar beet will get insurance payouts this year after an industry insurance policy was triggered for the first time.

Cold weather and frosts have damaged many of East Anglia's beet crops, prompting rejections from processing factories.

But now British Sugar and the National Farmers' Union's sugar board (NFU Sugar) have confirmed to farmers that the threshold for frost insurance was met on December 15.

Both organsiations said they "will work with the insurers to ensure an effective and timely pay-out is coordinated".

All beet growers who had not completed their harvest by midnight on December 14, and submitted a crop area declaration in time to receive a frost insurance certificate, have automatically had a valid claim lodged with insurer NFU Mutual, farmers were told.

Eastern Daily Press: Norfolk sugar beet grower Kit PapworthNorfolk sugar beet grower Kit Papworth (Image: Archant Norfolk Photographic © 2008)

North Norfolk farm contractor Kit Papworth, a member of the NFU Sugar board, said the insurance policy was created after a frost-hit season in 2010/11 - but this is the first time it has been triggered.

"Many growers have had a very difficult year, with drought and high temperatures, virus yellows and then the frosts," he said. "This insurance should go some way to help as a safety net to catch those growers who are worst affected.

"Speaking personally, we have not been as badly affected as some others, but there are significant numbers of rejections in west Norfolk, into Suffolk and South Lincolnshire.

"Nobody wants to have their crop rejected, so this announcement is really welcome news.

"It is not just about rejected loads, it is also growers who won't achieve anything like their contract because their sugars are significantly reduced and a lot of people with beet still in the ground will not be able to get the expected yields."

In a letter to growers, British Sugar said all calculations will be carried out at the end of this year’s sugar beet campaign "to ensure the £15m policy cap has not been met and final deliveries have all been identified correctly".

NFU Sugar tweeted advice on the payment criteria and how farmers can calculate their insured tonnage. It says the first 15% of yield loss "is effectively the policy excess and is not compensated", but the next 15% is compensated at £27 per tonne and the remaining 70% at £13.50 per tonne.