It's been another good year for sugar beet producers in the Red River Valley, according to sugar beet researcher Mohamed Khan with the North Dakota State University Extension Service.
Make that "three successful years in a row," says Khan, who spoke at the recent American Crystal Sugar sugar beet growers' seminar in Grand Forks, N.D.
There were no sugar beet acres that had to be left in the ground, and average yields reached into the mid-25-ton-per-acre range. Forty-four percent of the harvest was of conventional sugar beets, and 56 percent of it was of genetically modified sugar beets. Both, Khan says, were very similar in recovered sugar, about 17 percent.
Next year
Looking forward, Khan has a few tips for producers to keep in mind as they plan out their 2009 season.
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"One of the best things you can do, since you are making the most money with sugar beets, is to plant sugar beets into your best fields," he says.
He reminds growers of the importance of going into a good seedbed, listening to agronomist recommendations on nutrient applications and, when it comes to yield, aiming a little high.
"Aim for 30 tons per acre," he says. "That way, if you fall a little, you're still around 25-plus."
Population control
The best returns can be attained by planting for optimum population.
"The first thing is to make sure you have a good plant population," Khan says. "There is an old saying, 'What you sow, that is what you shall reap.' We've done the research and found that about 175 plants per 100-foot row consistently gives you the highest recovered sugar per acre, never mind the variety."
What happens if you try to go too high?
"Let's say you go to 225 plants per 100 feet of row," he says. "You get similar yields, but then the beets start to get carrot-shaped, compared to those at 175."
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They also get smaller, which Khan says can become a problem in the fall.
"It affects storage, and sometimes, if they come too small, you cannot harvest it," he says.
Proving a point
In a field test last year, Khan planted sugar beets May 2 and again May 24.
"We used from 50 to 175 plants per foot of row," he says.
The percent of recovered sugar was virtually the same in nearly all of the sugar beets. The only ones that were lower in sugar were those planted at 50 plants per 100 feet of row. As expected, the sugar beets planted May 2 yielded more than all the rest.
The takeaway lesson is seed spacing, Kahn says.
"Sugar beet seeds are like gold dust," he says. "Each one of them is very expensive. You don't want to go about wasting seeds. You should be taking your planters every year to the clinic to make sure that whatever space you want, you get when you go into the field."
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NDSU's research and the information from American Crystal show that 175 to 200 plants per 100 feet of row is the population that will consistently give the highest recovered sugar per acre.
And that's what it's all about, Khan says. "That's what you are in this business for."
