Early Sugar Beet Competition with Sugarcane

POD: In the middle ages at a precise point that remains vague and unrecorded, a monk in a Polish monastery notes that certain beets are sweeter than usual, and they get cultivated and spread around monastic lands and the region over several years, when another monk discovers that you can create sugar crystals from those particularly sweet beets. The discovery allows for the monastery to start producing sugar, and it isn't long before sugar production follows the sugar beet in spreading through Poland, Prussia, and the Baltic coast.

In the late middle ages, this sugar also feeds the production of distilled alcoholic beverages, such as the notorious Baltic rum.

So, we have Central and Eastern Europe producing sugar beets and sugar early on--I presume that this would lower sugar prices, but it'd still be a reasonably valuable trade good. How might this affect Mediterranean trade in sugar, and the cultivation of sugar there? How would sugar beet production in Europe change the attractiveness of plantation agriculture in Brazil and the Caribbean?
 
It will lower prices in Europe even earlier, since the crop will be adopted rather soon in other European countries too.
 
As the beets are processed in Poland, Baltics etc, hopefully the idea of organization of work would move to other branches of economy, leading to production of greater number of more processed goods in Central and Eastern Europe, and thus more wealth in the region...
 
It will lower prices in Europe even earlier, since the crop will be adopted rather soon in other European countries too.
On the other hand as market oriented manorial farms in Baltic region switch to sugar production, grain prices will likely rise in western Europe.
 
One thing that the other thread linked above mentions is that sugar processing from sugar beets is more capital intensive compared to the labor-intensive process of harvesting sugar from sugarcane. That could integrate beet-producing regions more broadly into Western markets, and lead to some proto-industrial centers as the commercial revolution takes off.

As the beets are processed in Poland, Baltics etc, hopefully the idea of organization of work would move to other branches of economy, leading to production of greater number of more processed goods in Central and Eastern Europe, and thus more wealth in the region...

This would be interesting for the Hanseatic League and Denmark. Baltic trade would be much more valuable with an even wider variety of goods flowing past Copenhagen--The Sound Dues could be a much bigger source of revenue, and a powerful way for Danish (and Swedish) aristocracy to attempt to control mercantile interests. Perhaps this supports a longer-lasting Kalmar?

A wealthier Poland and Baltics in the late Middle Ages and early modern era would also be interesting. Controlling the outlet of the Vistula would be more valuable given the potential tax revenue involved. If Polish kings are able to gain control of that, they might be able to centralize.

The monastic orders in Prussia and the Baltics would presumably be richer and a bit more powerful. Bad news for Novgorod, Lithuania, or both?

On the other hand as market oriented manorial farms in Baltic region switch to sugar production, grain prices will likely rise in western Europe.

This is an interesting trade-off: Grain prices would rise, but could only rise to the ability of Western markets to pay, and would only rise enough that producing grain for export is competitive with sugar. This is the sort of relationship that would be pretty easy to observe over time, especially given that Baltic trade has a natural chokepoint from which you could track this in Copenhagen. I could envision some early economics works coming from this.
 
The monastic orders in Prussia and the Baltics would presumably be richer and a bit more powerful. Bad news for Novgorod, Lithuania, or both?
I would envision the opposite - sugar beets are grown not just along the Baltic coast in OTL, but also deeper inland. As such, Lithuania and the Rus' principalities have considerably more potential sugar-growing land than the small and more urbanized Orders.
 
I would envision the opposite - sugar beets are grown not just along the Baltic coast in OTL, but also deeper inland. As such, Lithuania and the Rus' principalities have considerably more potential sugar-growing land than the small and more urbanized Orders.
Theoretically. In practice, being well organized and well connected to foreign markets, the Order will probably do better off until around Grunwald. How much, depends on when the discovery happens, really, and when it becomes profitable. From Polish perspective perhaps the best would be early during Casimir the Great's rule' as it would have been the best chance to strenghten Polish state with increased incomes for example via introducing a monopoly, instead of just making rich magnates even richer.
 
Regarding the question of Brazil and the Caribbean, how much sugar could these beets produce?

If we have Europe satisfying its sugar needs by 1500 using these beets, you have removed the main initial economic reason for the Atlantic slave trade. Forget the Americas, dragging slaves from the Congo to Sao Tome will not be worth the hassle or death toll that European slave traders would be experiencing from malaria and yellow fever.

While initial conquests into the Caribbean and coastal Brazil might go as per OTL, with disease causing a massive societal toll among the Natives and no economically viable backup plan, large parts of these regions would end up lightly settled by the European conquerors. Perhaps reports of gold might drive them to push inland-but if European kingdoms are exporting Eastern European sugar to Africa and Asia, governmental authorities may be less likely to sponsor such conquest, preferring to get, for example, Malian gold by trading sugar across the Sahara.
 
Okay let's start with the problem one by one. The modern sugarbeet was only created in the mid 18th century in Prussia by Andreas Marggraf, the original form was a white fodder beet. So there's no sugar beet before that. Next the process to extract sugar from beet was developed by the Frenchman Olivier de Serres in the early 17th century.

Let's continue on, a major reason that sugar beet only became competitive in the 19th century was because the process are energy intensive. A major difference between cane and beet are the by product of the harvest. The by product of sugar cane are the plant which can be used as fuel. While the by product of sugar beet are animal fodder. This mean that cane sugar production doesn't need external fuel, while beet sugar does. Next to cheapen the process to produce sugar from beet you need a centrifuge (developed in the late 19th century) and carbonation are also used in the process (late 18th century).

So is it impossible to see earlier extraction of sugar from beets; no not really but it's not very economical.

But before Uncle Jürgen destroy people's dreams her, de do in fact have a solution: Fully refined sugar from beet are unlikely to be developed early on, but fully refined sugar are not the only product which can be produced from sugar, the process before that include several products. The first product are a thick sugar rich molasse. This molass can be used as to sweeten products, it can be used in conservation and it can be used to either produce alcohol on it own or to start the process with crops like plums which have a hard time to start on their own. The best part are that the by-product from the beet can still be used as animal fodder.

So you can simply have farmers or monks who takes some of their fodder beet and boil them to produce molasse. Over time these slowly end up selecting beets with more sugar in them, and improving the process, the next step will be muscovado sugar. But that point we likely need to move from home production to mill production.

The next question where's sugar production likely. I think we need a place with easy access to fuel and good soil (beets demand high quality soil). This mix means we need to place it in a agricultural region with good transportation and close to large forests; so the southern banks of the Baltic Sea would I think would be the best place for this. The regions I would focus on would be around Strettin, Danzig, Mecklenburg, eastern Scleswig-Holstein and Lolland-Falster all areas with a large sugar beet production in OTL and relative easy access to Baltic/Scandinavian charcoal.
 
Okay let's start with the problem one by one. The modern sugarbeet was only created in the mid 18th century in Prussia by Andreas Marggraf, the original form was a white fodder beet. So there's no sugar beet before that. Next the process to extract sugar from beet was developed by the Frenchman Olivier de Serres in the early 17th century.

Let's continue on, a major reason that sugar beet only became competitive in the 19th century was because the process are energy intensive. A major difference between cane and beet are the by product of the harvest. The by product of sugar cane are the plant which can be used as fuel. While the by product of sugar beet are animal fodder. This mean that cane sugar production doesn't need external fuel, while beet sugar does. Next to cheapen the process to produce sugar from beet you need a centrifuge (developed in the late 19th century) and carbonation are also used in the process (late 18th century).

So is it impossible to see earlier extraction of sugar from beets; no not really but it's not very economical.

I was afraid this would be a problem. Any chance that the longer period of semi-selective breeding for sugar content would make the process less technically challenging and capital-intensive?

But before Uncle Jürgen destroy people's dreams her, de do in fact have a solution: Fully refined sugar from beet are unlikely to be developed early on, but fully refined sugar are not the only product which can be produced from sugar, the process before that include several products. The first product are a thick sugar rich molasse. This molass can be used as to sweeten products, it can be used in conservation and it can be used to either produce alcohol on it own or to start the process with crops like plums which have a hard time to start on their own. The best part are that the by-product from the beet can still be used as animal fodder.

So you can simply have farmers or monks who takes some of their fodder beet and boil them to produce molasse. Over time these slowly end up selecting beets with more sugar in them, and improving the process, the next step will be muscovado sugar. But that point we likely need to move from home production to mill production.

A more extensive use of beets as a fodder crop brings to mind the possibility of this supporting the agricultural revolution. At the very least, it's efficient to support livestock as well as a cash crop on the same field.

Molasses production was substantial even with sugarcane, so this might not be a significant barrier for production from sugar beets. What sort of technical capacity would be necessary for mill production from beets? Is this something feasible early in industrial development; 17th century or earlier?

The next question where's sugar production likely. I think we need a place with easy access to fuel and good soil (beets demand high quality soil). This mix means we need to place it in a agricultural region with good transportation and close to large forests; so the southern banks of the Baltic Sea would I think would be the best place for this. The regions I would focus on would be around Strettin, Danzig, Mecklenburg, eastern Scleswig-Holstein and Lolland-Falster all areas with a large sugar beet production in OTL and relative easy access to Baltic/Scandinavian charcoal.

I'd expect inland production to also be quite possible provided there was a sufficiently navigable river available, and ideally timber/charcoal that could be shipped downstream.
 
I was afraid this would be a problem. Any chance that the longer period of semi-selective breeding for sugar content would make the process less technically challenging and capital-intensive?

Not before such extraction process have come into being. There's some beet with high levels of sugar, like the red beet, but it's colouring make it unusual bad for sugar extraction. So you need a tradition for beets being used to produce molasse and from there the peasants will select sweeter and sweeter beets, resulting in a beet with a high percent of sugar.

A more extensive use of beets as a fodder crop brings to mind the possibility of this supporting the agricultural revolution. At the very least, it's efficient to support livestock as well as a cash crop on the same field.

Beets was used as winter feed, it was harvested by humans and feed to animals through the winter. They don't share fields.
Molasses production was substantial even with sugarcane, so this might not be a significant barrier for production from sugar beets. What sort of technical capacity would be necessary for mill production from beets? Is this something feasible early in industrial development; 17th century or earlier?

A beet mill would crush the beets, after which they would be boiled, when the molass was removed, the mill would be used to get the last juice out of the beet, which would be boiled again into a thick molasse. These two different molasses would then be boilded again leaving muscovada sugar. From there you could continue the refinement, but everystep make the process more expensive. The beet by product would be used to feed animals.
I'd expect inland production to also be quite possible provided there was a sufficiently navigable river available, and ideally timber/charcoal that could be shipped downstream.

I doesn't expect a large scale production.

In truth I can't really see this being more than a regional cottage industry before the 17th century, where I could see countries like Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Saxony and Braunsweig-Lüneburg begin a small scale mill production of beet sugar for domestic use.
 
On the other hand as market oriented manorial farms in Baltic region switch to sugar production, grain prices will likely rise in western Europe.

That does not totally have to be the case. That is regions in the west now known for Sugar Beet (I'm from western North Brabant in the Netherlands, which has a rather prominent sugar beet production, not to mention the prominent yet characteristic smell of the sugar beet factories, never were huge grain producing areas to begin with. The impact on grain import OTOH will be noticed, though not too huge, after all they will respond to supply and demand. Sugar beet will get a role for sure, but it won't totally eliminate the importance of grain, nor will it prevent other suitable regions from implementing it.
 
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