  Following the EU's decision to ban neonicotinoids, this article investigates
the impacts of yellow virus on sugar beet yields under the ban and under
current and future climates. Using a model that factors in key variables such
as sowing dates, phenological stages, first aphid flight and aphid abundance,
simulations are performed using long-period climate datasets as inputs. Coupled
with incidence and sugar yield loss assumptions, this model allows to
reconstruct the impact of yellow virus on sugar beet yields using a so called
'as if' approach. By simulating the effects of viruses over a longer period of
time, as if neonicotinoids weren't used in the past, this methodology allows an
accurate assessment of risks associated with yellow viruses, as well as impact
of future agroecological mesures. The study eventually provides an actuarial
rating for an insurance policy that compensates the losses triggered by those
viruses.
