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Sugarbeets

A friend sent me pics of his RR sugarbeets that look considerably healthier then mine!:D

TomSheySugarbeets.jpg


Notice the uncovered "blue" seed to the far left next to the little stick. Like mine he had some that didn't cover well and he hopes to use a Truax Drill next year.

Healthysugarbeets.jpg


I can rent our county conservation boards Truax no-till drill for something like 5 bucks an acre and that thing will plant just about anything!

My neighbor used it last summer to no-till brassicas and they came up great!

TruaxNo-tilldrill.jpg


Here's some more planting information that is helpful:

Planting: It is very important to have you planter in excellent condition. Seed is planted 0.75 to 1.25 inches deep for maximum germination and emergence. Use shallow depths for earlier planting. It is helpful to use depth bands to insure a more uniform planting depth.



The planters working condition should be checked daily during planting. Suggested items to check:
  • 1. the condition of hoppers, drives, and chains.
    2. seed cutoff points to see that pawls fit seed plates properly.
    3. make sure plates fit properly and filler plates are installed.
    4. be sure disc furrow openers are clean and turn freely.
    5. be sure depth bands are clean and properly adjusted.
    6. seed ejection tubes for restrictions or blockage.
    7. be sure row spacings are correct, equal, and row markers adjusted.
    8. lubricate the drill properly.
    9. clean seed hoppers daily.
    10. match seed sizes and planter plates carefully.
    11. test the planter on a hard surface to check the seed distribution pattern.
Time and rate of seeding.
Sugar beet should be planted in early to mid April when soil moisture and temperature conditions permit. The potential for very high yields from early plantings is better and generally worth the risk of frost damage >
Row width of 22 and 30 inches are used. Row widths of 22 inches result in the highest yields. Higher and more uniform plant populations are easier to establish. Plant beets 2.5 to 3.5 inches apart in 22-inch rows if they are to be thinned. A planting speed of about 3 miles per hour is recommended. A good sugar beet plant population at harvest should be near 35 000 uniformly spaced plants per acre. This is 8 inches between plants in the row. This population should produce very good yields of high quality sugar beets.
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I suspect that if I purchased seed cups for my JD7000 no-till corn planter I could also plant them that way, assuring more accurate planting depth and population. :way:
 
Well last night, we had a pretty bad storm. There was 80 MPH winds and hail. The sugar beets look to be bent and some hail damage. So I dont know if they will make I hope they do. What you guys think?

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There is some hail damage on them, they look pretty bent but the roots are still intack to the soil so I dont know, I think they will make it.
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They look a whole lot better then mine! I'm new to sugarbeets but I think yours will recover.

Any grazing so far?
 
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Yah thats what I was thinking, now I need some hot weather! Well I cant tell if there is any grazing them or if its hail.
 
After my sugarbeets got murdered by hail, I sprayed them with roundup and had some small hope that a few might survive. That hope was dashed when I returned to find a nice bare plot...:(

SBafterRUP.jpg


The only thing left in the second plot was a few small patches of clover

Afterroundup.jpg


and one measly survivor sugarbeet

OneSugarbeetsurvivor.jpg


I managed to miss a strip with the sprayer to give one an idea of what it would have looked like

Unsprayed.jpg


I carefully checked that strip, thinking perhaps deer might have nipped the others off but there were none to be found. The beets simply couldn't handle the fierce hail storm that blasted windows out of houses.

Another friend decided to spray his RR beets but made the deadly mistake of grabbing a jug of 2-4D rather then glyphosate...so his beets look like mine now....:rolleyes:

"Stuff" happens, having farmed for many years I'm used to it and go into every planting expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

One lesson all can learn fro this is that fall plantings of cereal grains and peas are almost impossible to kill by any type of weather assuring you that you will have a late fall thru winter attractant.

There are thousands of acres of drowned out corn and beans or at best they are stunted and yellow due to excessive rainfall and one farmer alone lost 500 acres of corn to the same hail storm that hit my sugarbeets.

We have lots of options to attract whitetails, choosing only one may very well leave you dissapointed in November...;)
 
Sligh1 said:
What's the plans for your bare spot where sugar beets used to be?
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Since it's all cleaned up and ready to go, I'm going to plant brassicas. I already have urea tilled in but the heavy rains will have cause leaching so I'll add more urea and plant in about 3 weeks...:)

BTW...the hail damage was in Davis county east of Bloomfield, not aware of any other areas being hit that badly. ;)
 
For my dead patch I think I'll plant purple top turnips in Aug. or Sept. They've been a great attractant for me in past years. Can I still plant them now or do I need to wait?? READ THE LABEL BEFORE SPRAYING!!!
 
roadking said:
For my dead patch I think I'll plant purple top turnips in Aug. or Sept. They've been a great attractant for me in past years. Can I still plant them now or do I need to wait?? READ THE LABEL BEFORE SPRAYING!!!
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I would plant them in late July to early August for best yields. You need to wait a couple weeks after spraying 2-4D before planting brassicas or residual effects can affect germination.

If you till the soil good that will be helpful as well but if you no-till I would wait closer to three weeks after spraying 2-4D to be on the safe side...;)
 
dbltree said:
You can spray sugarbeets with Select 2EC (clethodim) to kill any type of grasses but broadleaves I think would be another story.

Generic versions of clethodim include Arrow, Volunteer, Shadow and Cleodim 2-Ec...all contain 26.4% clethodim and prices range from $85-130 a gallon. Use 6-8 ounces per acre along with one quart of crop oil concentrate per acre.

Beets look great, thanks for sharing the pics!:way:
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I went out and looked at my beet plot and a lot of grass is growing, I was just wondering where can you get select 2EC, tractor supply doesnt have it and the coops around my place dont have it either?
 
killer buck said:
I went out and looked at my beet plot and a lot of grass is growing, I was just wondering where can you get select 2EC, tractor supply doesnt have it and the coops around my place dont have it either?
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What your looking for is "clethodim" which is in Select/Arrow/Volunteer/Shadow and other generic versions including Clethodim 2-EC.

We just bought a gallon from this source, shipped to the door for $89

Jim Bolding 919-462-1375 Crop Smart LLC
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Farm elevators and ag co-ops usually carry it but just like drugs at the drug store, generics are usually less.

For those in the Chariton/Greenfield area, shoot nannyslayer a PM as he usually carries it at his co-op as well.

Any clethodim product should contain 26.4% clethodim and remember you need to add crop oil concentrate at roughly a quart per acre to make the clethodim effective...:)
 
killer buck said:
Hey what about fusion? That what a lot of the Co-ops have.
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Fusion is labled for soybeans and cotton but not sugar beets that I am aware of?

Sometimes my plantings don't turn out so good or in the case of my sugarbeets just an outright failure but I love to see others succeed and Mike from Wisconsin sent me these pics! :way:

Now doggone it that's some mighty fine looking sugarbeets and notice a few beans in with them...;)

MikesSugarbeets09.jpg


The nearly 9000 gallons per acre of hog manure he had hauled in no doubt helped! :D

MikesBeansnBeets.jpg


Mike was wondering about applying some nitrogen but with no rain in the near future it makes urea a pretty dicey proposition and from the looks of them I think they are just fine as they are.

One option however in situation like this is to spray a foliar fertilizer such as Coron 25-0-0 which can even be applied via a backpack sprayer.

TSC has some foliar fertilizers available that would also work for small plots to give either brassicas or sugarbeets a boost but I also know that sugar levels increase in beets when they start to starve for nitrogen towards the end of the growing season.

Fertilizer: A crop producing 25 tons/A of beets takes up 212 lb/A of N, 38 lbs/A P <SUB>2</SUB>0<SUB>5</SUB>, and 458 lbs/A of K<SUB>2</SUB>0.

[FONT=Times New
Roman]Knowledge of soil type and nutrients that are available is necessary. Sugar beet plant can utilize N from depths of 6 feet or more. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New
Roman]A soil test for nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium is recommended. Sampling should be to a depth of 6 feet. Other nutrients specific to an area may be deficient and these would need to be applied. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times
New Roman]The amount of N applied should be the proper amount to reach the projected tonnage and allow for sugar accumulation. Too much nitrogen will result in top growth and reduced sugar production. [/FONT]
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Mike you should be very proud of those beets and thanks much for sharing the pics with us here on IW! :)
 
The places Ive hunted that have sugar beets, Montana, Michigan, constantly irrigate them. They have pivots that run daily, or they flood the fields on a weekly basis. Not sure they will do well here unless you do the same.
 
MOBEN said:
The places Ive hunted that have sugar beets, Montana, Michigan, constantly irrigate them. They have pivots that run daily, or they flood the fields on a weekly basis. Not sure they will do well here unless you do the same.
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I've seen quite a few grown with no irrigation so for deer feed they do fine with normal rainfall. Heck, here in Iowa were trying to keep from floating away as it is! :D
 
Looks like they are putting on some good growth but a little spotty germination, which is the problem I had as well.

Thanks for sharing and keep us posted! :way:
 
Man, I lucked out last year with my sugar beats, planted them late, just broadcast them, drug them in with a harrow, and they grew great!! Dang deer kept them clipped off though.
 
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