The farm bought to house Beet Ireland’s proposed sugar beet processing plant has been sold for €1.655m. The land, comprising 80 acres at Ballyburn in Kildare, was purchased by a local tillage farmer, for slightly under €21,000/ac.

Purchased by Beet Ireland back in 2018, the Ballyburn site, near the M9 between Carlow town and Castledermot, was where beet processing would have been resurrected in Ireland had the project, spearheaded by Michael Hoey, farmer and CEO of Country Crest come to fruition.

While the lot comprising 79.8ac was sold, a second lot comprising a period house, sheds and 7.5ac was withdrawn from auction at €570,000.

“It’s a sad day to have sold the sugar factory site on the day that global sugar prices reached a record high,” a Beet Ireland member said.