Written by cpm
Download PDF The dry spring and exceptional aphid pressure have caused headaches for many sugar beet growers. CPM examines how this might affect harvesting schedules and what lessons can be learned for next season. Make sure land going into beet is in as good a condition as possible. By Adam Clarke The term ‘challenging’ has been somewhat overused during 2020, but for good reason. It has been something of a perfect storm for sugar beet as the dry spring compromised establishment and residual herbicide efficacy on many farms, especially those without irrigation capacity. This late, variable, establishment coincided with exceptionally high aphid pressure from March through to June, resulting in some of the most significant virus infection in recent years. Travel around any major beet growing area and it doesn’t take long to find leaves with the tell-tale yellowing resulting from aphid-borne virus infection. Yield losses from the three yellowing viruses, mainly spread by Myzus persicae, can range from 30-50% but it remains to be seen how much crops will be affected this year. Growers will hope favourable summer/early autumn growing conditions can mitigate some of the impact, but variability looks inevitable. East Anglian Farmacy agronomist Rob Jack says that,…
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