Overseeding is lurking in sugar beets

Last week's rainfall has put an end to the smooth sowing of sugar beets. Almost 80% has been sown, but due to the poor weather conditions it is important to keep a close eye on the sown plots and field emergence.

The sowing of sugar beet went very smoothly and successfully in the past period. It is now week 15 and there is a small 80% sown with sugar beet. The sowing has not yet been completed anywhere, but more than 95% has been sown in Zeeland and the Flevopolder. To date, the least has been sown in the northeast.

Flash start
Due to regional differences in precipitation, sugar beet sowing cannot be resumed immediately. It is expected that sowing will only be possible after the weekend in the wettest regions. A big contrast in sowing dates, because half of the seeds had already been sown at the end of March due to the beautiful and dry weather. In week 12 in particular, things went smoothly and the sown area increased from 13,7 to 52,2%. Due to this difference in sowing, the average sowing dates seem to be around the average of recent years. The average sowing dates for the past three years were on April 6 and 7.

In total, 83.500 hectares of seed have been sold this season. That is about 1% more than last season. In addition, Cosun Beet Company is currently not receiving any signals that this area is going to decrease, because the small amount that is sown a little extra or less is about the same.

Oversowing is possible
Relatively few plots have been sown in recent years. To date, the counter stands at 278 hectares, with frost (69%) as the main reason. However, due to the weather influences of last week, the acreage for overseeding can increase considerably. Damage to germinated seed and young beet plants has been reported from multiple regions from frost, water on land and perhaps the biggest problem right now: crusting. This is slowly but surely becoming visible on plots that are already graying out.

According to Cosun Beet Company, it is unclear how many hectares should be sown. This has to do with the fact that part of the seed may still have germination capacity and is still on the way. Also because of the frost there may already have been something that is gone by now. They therefore call on the growers to keep a close eye on their plot.

Whether overseeding is necessary depends on the damage to the beet plants, the average plant number and the distribution of this plant number. With an even distribution over the plot, a good yield can still be achieved with a plant number of 40.000 to 50.000 plants, reports IRS.

Jesse Torringa

Jesse is an editor at Boerenbusiness and focuses in particular on the arable farming sector, including grain and onions. He also closely follows the fertilizer market. In addition, Jesse works on an arable farm in Groningen with seed potatoes as the main branch.

j.torringa@boerenbusiness. Nl

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