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'Weed control in beets more by feel'
"To get a decent balance from beet cultivation, the yields have to be good," says Albert-Jan Hazelaar from 't Haantje (Drenthe). Successful weed control is therefore not only desirable, but even necessary.
"In addition, many available resources are less strong than before. So you really have to be on top of it," he emphasizes. He himself has exchanged the 'standard weekly spraying' for more targeted weed control. "I spray now less - and also a bit more by feel, but the results are just as good."
"Well, beet cultivation…" Albert-Jan Hazelaar sighs when the crop is mentioned. "In recent years, we have not been spoiled with regard to the beet price. I've even thought about cutting back on the cultivation a bit, especially after the dry years we've had here. I think we lost at least a ton of euros in the three dry years together. But yes, we have the knowledge and experience and the cultivation usually succeeds - with normal amounts of precipitation. So yes, onward and on to better times'', he laughs. In any case, the yield has been good again last season. Of the 40 hectares of beets, an average of more than 93 tons net per hectare was harvested with 17% sugar in the early delivery and 17,7% in the later delivery, or 15 tons of sugar per hectare.
However, he is a little worried about the future. "If we really have more dry summers, then beet cultivation here on the high sand will simply become difficult. We can irrigate, but I prefer not to do that because we play into the hands of leaf diseases. We already have to do it at least five times. spraying against leaf diseases; that should not be done any more.”
'Sit more on top'
According to Hazelaar, weed control is not getting any easier either. He has the impression, for example, that more and more resistant melds are emerging and that other 'standard weeds' such as peachwort and chamomile need to be tackled more and more in order to get rid of them completely. "It is a well-known fact that the current weed killers are somewhat less strong than those in the past. This means that you have to be more on top of it to get the plot properly clean." onions are also included in his cropping plan. "With onions, weed control is much closer than in the beet. So the onions take precedence, so you have to pay extra attention to ensure that the beets are also sprayed under good, growing conditions."
In the past two seasons, Hazelaar applied a combination of 0,5 l/ha Payment Tandem + 0,5 l/ha Bettix SC® with Robbester. On average he sprayed four times (in LDS), after which there was usually a final spray with Frontier®. It cleans beets well. "In recent years I have been spraying more and more on my gut feeling and less on the calendar. That way I not only save on spraying – which saves a few tens in costs, but I also pay more attention to what is actually needed. it's all about sufficient time and attention for the crop, which determines whether you can be satisfied with the result at the end of the ride."
Bettix SC® is a registered trademark of UPL
Frontier® is a registered trademark of BASF
