FORMER sugar beet growers have been finding new uses for their land after York's British Sugar factory took its final deliveries.

But farmers still fear how the plant's closure will affect them.

They are trying to draw income from in different ways - for example, by preparing to enter a Government environmental scheme - but they say not growing beet will hit them financially later in the year.

A total of 1,200 growers supplied sugar beet to the Boroughbridge Road plant before it took its last consignment in February.

Michael Craven, of Common Farm, Melbourne, near Pocklington, used to grow beet for the factory. He is now growing more kale for his sheep, is letting some of his land to another farmer, and is trying to get into the Government's Higher Level Stewardship scheme, which pays farmers for restoring hedgerows, for example.

Mr Craven, who is also chairman of the National Farmers' Union regional sugar board, said: "Getting into the scheme would give us an income of sorts, but nowhere near as much as we got for the sugar beet."

Rosey Dunn, of North Carlton Farm, at Stockton-on-the-Forest, near York, has not settled on an alternative crop to sugar beet yet.

Her land is not suitable for oilseed rape, and she does not have enough storage space for it. She is now growing more grass for her sheep and cattle.

"Come the autumn, there's no doubt we're going to miss the money we got from the beet, but we're also going to miss it as a break crop - it's very beneficial to the land," she said.

Sugar beet helps break up the soil in preparation for the growing of wheat, for example.

David Wilmot-Smith, of Gunby Hall Farm, at Bubwith, near Selby, is now growing more oilseed rape for biofuel, which is an emerging market.

"I'm not struggling, because I had a relatively small size of my farm under sugar beet, but there are people who will be struggling because they had a large quota for the factory.

"We were putting 9,500 tonnes of sugar beet a day into the plant.

"You can imagine how many people's livelihoods have been affected - there is a lot of financial pressure on them," he said.