Autonomous innovation for the field trials of tomorrow!

Field trials are where the performance of our sugar beet varieties is proven. Every year, we run trials across the main sugar beet growing areas to evaluate new hybrids under local production and climate conditions.

To help take this work to the next level, our teams within United Beet Seeds (UBS) are developing the UBS-BOT, an autonomous field robot, together with our specialist partner Permarobotics. The goal is not technology for its own sake. It is about the added value autonomy can bring to agriculture and plant breeding: more efficient, accurate and objective trial execution, while capturing valuable data directly in the field.

The UBS-BOT is currently in its testing phase and is being progressively developed for different applications in experimental field work. In the long term, we see strong potential to enhance workflows, minimise manual effort, and further improve the quality and reliability of field trial results.

Want to know more about field trials?

Field trials are a critical step in our research process. After breeding, new hybrids are tested in trial plots across the main sugar beet growing areas and repeated over multiple years, so we can confidently select the best performers under local production and climate conditions.

Throughout the season, our technical field experts work closely with our breeders to monitor emergence, pest and disease tolerance, bolting tolerance, and other key plant characteristics. At harvest, we use dedicated research harvesters to measure root yield, sugar concentration and purity, turning field results into robust data for selection decisions.