- Location
- Essex
Quick question to DKA, have you put any sugar beet with the strip cat this year? If so do you have any observations to pass on?
DKA and stripcat Sugar Beet.
- Thread starter Bill Turtle
- Start date
dontknowanything
Member
- Location
- Cambridge
Hi Bill,
We had a demo Duro strip till machine in the autumn to do an 8ha field. Unfortunately when they were supposed to come back in the spring for the second pass, the machine was stuck somewhere on the other side of the channel, and they told us we would just have to wait for it to become available. This was in mid march, so needless to say this wasn't really an option, it was ploughed and drilled immediately. To be honest though, in my opinion the StripCat is a much, much better machine, and it costs the same amount as the Duro.
Out StripCat beet yielded 72t/ha last year, with a plant population of 55,000/ha. According to British Sugar research, at 100,000 plants/ha the yield would have been 15-20% greater - i.e. about 85t/ha. This is comparable to our neighbours beet lifted at the same time.
I am of the opinion that strip till for beet is a real goer. BUT; Until we find out what is happening with the quotas in a couple of years I think it is unwise to spend significant money on specialist machinery. Talk is that the price will be heading back down to £25/t, which will very possibly not make it economical to grow.
We had a demo Duro strip till machine in the autumn to do an 8ha field. Unfortunately when they were supposed to come back in the spring for the second pass, the machine was stuck somewhere on the other side of the channel, and they told us we would just have to wait for it to become available. This was in mid march, so needless to say this wasn't really an option, it was ploughed and drilled immediately. To be honest though, in my opinion the StripCat is a much, much better machine, and it costs the same amount as the Duro.
Out StripCat beet yielded 72t/ha last year, with a plant population of 55,000/ha. According to British Sugar research, at 100,000 plants/ha the yield would have been 15-20% greater - i.e. about 85t/ha. This is comparable to our neighbours beet lifted at the same time.
I am of the opinion that strip till for beet is a real goer. BUT; Until we find out what is happening with the quotas in a couple of years I think it is unwise to spend significant money on specialist machinery. Talk is that the price will be heading back down to £25/t, which will very possibly not make it economical to grow.