2013 Minn./N.D. grower practices survey results

The 45th annual survey of weed control and production practices among sugarbeet growers in Minnesota and eastern North Dakota benefited from an uptick in participation compared to 2012.

A total of 183 growers responded to the 2013 survey request, compared to 114 the prior year. Overall, growers planted just over 676,000 acres of sugarbeets in the Minnesota/ eastern North Dakota region in 2013. The 183 survey respondents represent 18%—or 121,063—of total acres planted. 

Of the acres reported upon, 99% were planted to Roundup Ready sugarbeet varieties. Total beet acreage treated with herbicides in 2013 (taking into account multiple applicatons) was 232%. While that level was slightly higher than 2012’s 208%, it was lower than most of the past several years. In 2007, for instance, the last year prior to the introduction of commercial Roundup Ready beets in the region, herbicide treatments stood at 383%.

Nortron, Dual Magnum and Eptam were the soil-applied herbicides utilized by survey respondents in 2013. Soil-applied herbicide use for all reported acreage ran at just 3% in 2013, compared to 2% the previous year.

“The most common herbicide treatment reported by all respondents since 2009 has been glyphosate applied post,” the survey report notes. When combined across all rates and combinations, the glyphosate post treatment was applied to 215% of beet acreage reported upon in 2013. “Glyphosate plus Stinger at 25% and glyphosate plus Select at 13% of acres treated were the most frequently reported herbicide combinations by respondents planting Roundup Ready sugarbeet in 2013,” note the report’s authors.

“The Roundup Ready sugarbeet system continues to provide the most effective post weed control reported by growers in the history of this survey,” they continue, noting that 68% of Roundup Ready respondents reported excellent post weed control, compared to 44% among the very small percentage of respondents who grew conventional beets this past season.

“From 1974 to 2010, an average of 25% of conventional sugarbeet growers reported excellent weed control. Of growers who reported weed control from glyphosate applied alone, 75% reported excellent weed control in 2013, compared to 77% in 2012, 80% in 2011, 81% in 2010, 87% in 2009 and 92% in 2008,” they note. The authors add that “the declining trend of excellent weed control by respondents with Roundup Ready sugarbeet should be noted, as it may be an indicator of increasing levels of glyphosate-resistant weeds.” Waterhemp, common ragweed, common lambsquarters and kochia were the most frequently listed weeds suspected of being glyphosate resistant. 

Minnesota’s Polk and Wilkin counties were the only ones where growers reported using cultivation to help control weeds in 2013. The percentages were very small, though, compared to overall planted acreage. 

Rhizoctonia/Aphanomyces was selected most often as the “most serious production problem” by survey respondents for the fifth year in a row. Thirty percent of 2013 respondents listed that designation. “Weather” was second at 16%, followed by “Emergence/Stand” at 9%. Up until 2009, “Weeds” typically held that dubious number-one distinction. An exception occurred in 1998, however, when “Cercospora Leafspot” was the worst problem.

This year’s survey also included questions about harvest equipment. Eighty percent of respondents reported using one defoliator in 2013, and 82% said they used one beet lifter. Seventy-three percent said they used a 12-row defoliator, while lifter size was evenly dispersed among six-row, eight-row and 12-row units. The average respondent used 4.7 trucks to harvest the 2013 sugarbeet crop. The number of trucks used ranged from two up to 15.

Source: www.sugarpub.com