| Sugarbeet growers are getting ready for the planting season.
The three cooperatives in North Dakota and Minnesota plan to
plant approximately 718,000 acres to sugarbeets. Leading the
way is American Crystal with 500,000 acres, Southern Minnesota
Sugarbeet Cooperative with 112,000 acres and Minn-Dak Sugar
Cooperative with 106,000 acres.
Production wise, producers should have as good a year as
last, if not better, but there will be challenges, according
to Mohamed Khan, NDSU Extension soil science assistant
professor. "Our growers over the past several years have
been doing a great job in managing their sugarbeet
crops," says Khan. "With the low price for sugar
expected to continue for another year, our growers are
expected to become even more efficient at producing a good
quality crop at relatively low cost."
Seedbed preparation is critical in establishing a good
sugarbeet stand according to Joseph Giles, NDSU soil science
professor. "If we work it too wet we're going to end up
with a lot of clogs," says Giles. "But we want to
conserve the moisture we have as we go in to seedbed
preparation. We don't want to dry it out with excessive
tillage.
Giles says research shows that growers should go with
one-pass tillage this spring using a Danish tine type of
implement and pack the soil down with solid core packers or
rolling baskets.
A vast number of beets have been planted during the last
week of April in the past few years according to Giles. He
says timing is important. "We want to be cautious about
going in too early and losing those early planted beets to the
cold weather but we need to go in as early as possible so we
can get the stand established and get the crop off to a good
start."
Giles recommends a seeding depth of 1 1/4 inch. "There
is a tendency for growers to go deeper if we encounter dry
conditions but that makes it more difficult to get a good
stand," notes Giles. "We may see the seedbed dry out
if we seed shallower. There may be enough moisture to get the
seed started after initial planting but then we hit a hot dry
couple of days and things dry out and that seed essentially
dies because of the drying effect."
Keeping residue on the field is important to improve soil
structure, minimize erosion and protect plants during windy
days. Giles says research shows that growers can go into
fields and leave approximately 40 percent surface residue and
still establish a good stand with small grain residue.
Some growers will be planting beets on land that had corn
on it last year. "We're not really sure what's the best
way to handle that type of residue," says Giles. "We
plan on doing research this year to come up with some of the
answers. But even if you did your corn ground work last fall,
leaving some of that residue as you plant your beets is not
going to be a hindrance to you." |