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Planting radish and mustard as “trap” crops in the
traditional sugar beet/barley rotation in Wyoming stymied damaging
nematodes and shows promise as an inexpensive, environmentally
beneficial alternative to pesticides, SARE-funded research at the
University of Wyoming showed. Nematodes, which can drastically lower
sugar beet yields, have prompted most producers to apply nematicides
to protect the crop. Growing radishes after harvesting a crop such
as wheat or malt barley reduced the nematode population by more than
half in the subsequent sugar beet crop. Growing certain varieties of
radishes and mustard—which attracts nematodes to their roots, then
prevents them from reproducing—increased yields and eliminated the
need for nematicides on cooperating farms.
In a typical 720-acre farm in the sugar beet-growing region,
farmers can increase profit up to 6 percent annually; if 72 percent
of sugar beet producers in Washakie County used the trap crops,
collective profits could increase by at least $1 million a year.
Farmers can get even more bang for their buck by bringing in lambs
to graze the radish stand as a late-season forage. Research showed
lamb weight gains of close to half a pound per day on 240 acres of
radish, reducing feedlot time from 105 to 77 days and raising annual
returns up to 9 percent. After a number of articles and
presentations, project leaders have seen sales of the
nematode-resistant mustard and radish seed increase, indicating some
640 acres of trap crops have been planted in the state.
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