Article taken from Crop Production Magazine
By Lucy de la Pasture & Rob Jones Contract prices may be taking a plunge, but the sugar beet crop has plenty of potential. CPM finds out how to make the most of it and improve efficiency.
With the first factory gates due to open on 24 Sept, sugar beet crops have been looking extremely well in the weeks leading up to the start of the 2015 campaign. Only a guess can be made at yields until harvesting gets fully underway, but it’s fair to say that meeting their quota is unlikely to be a problem for most growers.
Ironically another big crop may be exactly what the industry doesn’t need right now. With the EU in sugar surplus and global prices under remorseless pressure, the reality is that production over contract is likely to cost growers to just get it out of the ground, says Simon Pretty of Agrovista. “Most of my growers are concentrating on growing a quality crop and maximising yield on the reduced area they’ve planted to achieve their contracted tonnages for this campaign,” he says, explaining it’s a real change in midset from the traditional approach of planting a little bit extra, ‘just to make sure’.
A focus on producing sugar beet more efficiently means careful attention to detail throughout the life of the crop. AICC sugar beet specialist, Dr Pat Turnbull, says her growers are also concentrating on a smaller area of sugar beet, but farming it well. “They’re targeting their most reliable fields for growing sugar beet and aiming for high yields. They see this as the key to making money at the current proves.” She says.
Done and dusted
If conditions are very conducive to further disease development, a few late harvested crops may warrant a third fungicide treatment to help retain green leaf area, believe Pat Turnbull. But otherwise most agronomy decisions are now done and dusted.
My crops have had robust fungicide treatments at T1 and T2 so are unlikely to need a T3 but I’ll be keeping an eye on leaf miner larvae throughout Sept, which have been a nigh problem in localized areas this summer,” she says, highlighting Peterborough and around The Wash as having been hotspots this season.
The trouble with leaf miner larvae is the loss of green leaf area they cause, especially on the older, biggest leaves which have the largest contribution to yield, she says. Control has been difficult this season and an emergency off-label approval for Biscaya (thiacloprid) has been granted 31 Oct, with a maximum of two applications permitted. “We’re having difficulty timing insecticide sprays to hit the larvae at egg hatch because their generations are overlapping, meaning they’re present at different stages of development in the crop,” explains Pat Turnbull, though why there so much worse in hotspots this season isn’t clear. Further south in his North Suffolk/South Norfolk area Simon Pretty hasn’t has to spray to limit leaf miner activity, although he has been observing them at low levels in crops. Powdery mildew has been conspicuous by its absence with neither agronomist observing much in crops this season.
With little agronomy left to do, Sept is the perfect time to consider beet clamp hygiene and prepare the concrete pads ready for harvest. “Many pads have been down a number of years, so pay attention to any cracks that have appeared before it breaks up and you find you’re sending lumps of concrete to the factory” he suggests.
“Think about compaction issues. Make sure trailer typre pressures are adjusted and harvesters aren’t turning on the headlands with a hopper full of beet.” At harvest, watch for physical damage such as bruising and cracking that can lead to yield loss, advises BBRO’s Colin Walters. “Gently does it. Damaged cells weep sugar solution. This is leached away from the roots by rainfall and more significantly by water circuits used to wash and transport beet at the factories before slicing.” He explains.
Secondary pathogens
“Damaged areas on roots become good sites for secondary pathogens to attack, leading to an increase in formation of moulds and rots which can cause significant deterioration in root quality, particularly if beet is stored for a long period.”
Research funded by BBRO concluded that there were many practical steps that could be taken to minimise crop damage at harvest. In addition to the machine settings, reducing stop heights wherever possible played a significant part in reducing sugar loss through respiration, as did the design of beet loader buckets and their use.
“Bladed buckets were found to be most effective when used on a concrete surface and traditional beet buckets are recommended when working on soil surfaces. But the single most important factor in bucket use isn’t the design of the equipment, it’s the way in which it’s operated,” explains Colin Walters. Giving an example, he highlights the tilt angle of the loading bucket. “Regardless of design, operating the bucket in the ‘level’ position minimises breakage. Pushing up in a clamp, as opposed to placing beet with a bucket dramatically increases the level of beet damage.”
Building the clamps carefully, avoiding reversing trailers into the pile of beet, dropping beet onto beet rather than onto a hard surface, are all ways to reduce the level of damage and consequently the potential for sugar loss.
By Lucy de la Pasture & Rob Jones Contract prices may be taking a plunge, but the sugar beet crop has plenty of potential. CPM finds out how to make the most of it and improve efficiency.
With the first factory gates due to open on 24 Sept, sugar beet crops have been looking extremely well in the weeks leading up to the start of the 2015 campaign. Only a guess can be made at yields until harvesting gets fully underway, but it’s fair to say that meeting their quota is unlikely to be a problem for most growers.
Ironically another big crop may be exactly what the industry doesn’t need right now. With the EU in sugar surplus and global prices under remorseless pressure, the reality is that production over contract is likely to cost growers to just get it out of the ground, says Simon Pretty of Agrovista. “Most of my growers are concentrating on growing a quality crop and maximising yield on the reduced area they’ve planted to achieve their contracted tonnages for this campaign,” he says, explaining it’s a real change in midset from the traditional approach of planting a little bit extra, ‘just to make sure’.
A focus on producing sugar beet more efficiently means careful attention to detail throughout the life of the crop. AICC sugar beet specialist, Dr Pat Turnbull, says her growers are also concentrating on a smaller area of sugar beet, but farming it well. “They’re targeting their most reliable fields for growing sugar beet and aiming for high yields. They see this as the key to making money at the current proves.” She says.
Done and dusted
If conditions are very conducive to further disease development, a few late harvested crops may warrant a third fungicide treatment to help retain green leaf area, believe Pat Turnbull. But otherwise most agronomy decisions are now done and dusted.
My crops have had robust fungicide treatments at T1 and T2 so are unlikely to need a T3 but I’ll be keeping an eye on leaf miner larvae throughout Sept, which have been a nigh problem in localized areas this summer,” she says, highlighting Peterborough and around The Wash as having been hotspots this season.
The trouble with leaf miner larvae is the loss of green leaf area they cause, especially on the older, biggest leaves which have the largest contribution to yield, she says. Control has been difficult this season and an emergency off-label approval for Biscaya (thiacloprid) has been granted 31 Oct, with a maximum of two applications permitted. “We’re having difficulty timing insecticide sprays to hit the larvae at egg hatch because their generations are overlapping, meaning they’re present at different stages of development in the crop,” explains Pat Turnbull, though why there so much worse in hotspots this season isn’t clear. Further south in his North Suffolk/South Norfolk area Simon Pretty hasn’t has to spray to limit leaf miner activity, although he has been observing them at low levels in crops. Powdery mildew has been conspicuous by its absence with neither agronomist observing much in crops this season.
With little agronomy left to do, Sept is the perfect time to consider beet clamp hygiene and prepare the concrete pads ready for harvest. “Many pads have been down a number of years, so pay attention to any cracks that have appeared before it breaks up and you find you’re sending lumps of concrete to the factory” he suggests.
“Think about compaction issues. Make sure trailer typre pressures are adjusted and harvesters aren’t turning on the headlands with a hopper full of beet.” At harvest, watch for physical damage such as bruising and cracking that can lead to yield loss, advises BBRO’s Colin Walters. “Gently does it. Damaged cells weep sugar solution. This is leached away from the roots by rainfall and more significantly by water circuits used to wash and transport beet at the factories before slicing.” He explains.
Secondary pathogens
“Damaged areas on roots become good sites for secondary pathogens to attack, leading to an increase in formation of moulds and rots which can cause significant deterioration in root quality, particularly if beet is stored for a long period.”
Research funded by BBRO concluded that there were many practical steps that could be taken to minimise crop damage at harvest. In addition to the machine settings, reducing stop heights wherever possible played a significant part in reducing sugar loss through respiration, as did the design of beet loader buckets and their use.
“Bladed buckets were found to be most effective when used on a concrete surface and traditional beet buckets are recommended when working on soil surfaces. But the single most important factor in bucket use isn’t the design of the equipment, it’s the way in which it’s operated,” explains Colin Walters. Giving an example, he highlights the tilt angle of the loading bucket. “Regardless of design, operating the bucket in the ‘level’ position minimises breakage. Pushing up in a clamp, as opposed to placing beet with a bucket dramatically increases the level of beet damage.”
Building the clamps carefully, avoiding reversing trailers into the pile of beet, dropping beet onto beet rather than onto a hard surface, are all ways to reduce the level of damage and consequently the potential for sugar loss.