Development of a electronic SmartHarvest-System for damage-free sugarbeet harvest# In 2017, the current sugar market regime will cut-off, and the acreage of the German sugar beet crop will substantially increase, thereby enabling a longer processing campaign and cost reduction per unit of sugar. As a consequence, the amount of beets stored in field piles for up to 3 month will increase. Under such conditions, long-term storage assuring low sugar losses is paramount. Storage losses and invert sugar formation are known to increase if the beets were damaged at harvest.