2014 Minn.-N.D. Grower Practices Survey Recap

Photo by Don Lilleboe

The 46th annual survey of weed control and production practices among sugarbeet growers in Minnesota and eastern North Dakota received responses from 188 growers — up slightly from the 183 who responded to the prior year’s survey questionnaire Growers in that region planted about 642,900 acres of beets in 2014, with the responding growers representing 105,950 acres, or 16% of total planted acres.

Of the acres reported upon, 99% were planted to Roundup Ready® sugarbeet varieties, with the remaining 1% to conventional. Those numbers were identical to the 2013 survey. Total beet acreage treated with herbicides (taking into account multiple applications) was 236% — very similar to 2013’s 232%. (By comparison, the corresponding numbers for 2006 and 2007 — the two years just prior to the introduction of Roundup Ready (RR) beets — were 386% and 383%, respectively.)


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Nortron, Dual Magnum and tank mixes of Nortron + Dual were the soil-applied herbicides used by survey respondents in 2014. Soil-applied herbicide use for all reported acreage was at 4% last year. That compares with 3% in 2013 and 2% in 2012. “When asked if they planned to use a soil-applied herbicide in the spring of 2015, 16% said yes, 58% said no, 23% were unsure” and 3% did not answer, note the survey report authors. Of those indicating “yes,” most were from the Southern Minn, Minn-Dak and American Crystal-Moorhead districts. “This is probably due to the increasing presence of waterhemp in these areas,” the authors state.

The most common herbicide treatment reported by all survey respondents since 2009 has been glyphosate applied postemergence. When combined across all rates and combinations, the glyphosate post treatment was applied to 227% of all 2014 acreage reported upon (including conventional). That number in 2013 was 215%; in 2012, 192%. Glyphosate + Stinger (34% of acres treated) and glyphosate + a grass herbicide (10%) were the most frequently reported herbicide combinations by respondents planting RR sugarbeets in 2014. Stinger helps control weeds like common ragweed or volunteer RR soybeans, where the grass herbicide Select helps with volunteer RR corn.

“The Roundup Ready sugarbeet system continues to be the most effective post weed control reported by growers in the history of this survey,” the authors state, noting that 56% of RR-planting respondents reported “excellent” post weed control in 2014, compared to 36% among the small number of respondents who grew conventional beets. In 2013, those numbers were 68% and 44%, respectively. From 1974 through 2010, an average of 25% of conventional beet growers reported “excellent” weed control.

Among growers who reported on weed control from glyphosate alone, 63% said they had “excellent” control in 2014. That compares with 75% in 2013, 77% in 2012, 80% in 2011, 81% in 2010, 87% in 2009 — and 92% in 2008. “This declining trend of excellent weed control by respondents with RR . . . is likely an indicator of increasing levels of glyphosate-resistant weeds,” the authors point out.

“Waterhemp was reported most frequently as the ‘worst weed’ problem by 37% of respondents planting RR sugarbeet in 20014,” they continue. Each year from 2008 to 2013, “none” was chosen most often for the “worst weed”designation. The take-away message, they state, is that “growers ought to closely monitor their farms for waterhemp escapes and create management strategies that do not rely upon glyphosate alone.”

Here are a few more highlights from the 2014 Minnesota-Eastern North Dakota survey report:

• Averaged across all counties, hand weeding was reported on 5% of beet acres last year. Renville and Chippewa counties in Minnesota and Richland and Traill counties in North Dakota each reported more than 10% hand-weeded acreage. Growers in these four counties also gave high “worst weed” ratings to waterhemp, which likely is related to their higher use of hand weeding.

• For the sixth straight year, Rhizoctonia/ Aphanomyces was selected most often — 33% — by survey respondents as the “most serious production problem.” From 1999 through 2008, weeds were deemed the primary problem; but only 7% of respondents indicated so in 2014. “Weather”-related issues came in at 31% in 2014, a season with a very wet, late spring in the region.

• Wheat was the most common crop to precede sugarbeets, with that being the case on 54% of reported acres in 2014. Corn preceded beets on 22% of reported acres; soybeans on 10%. Minnesota’s Chippewa and Renville countries were the only two where no beets were reported to have been planted on wheat ground.

• Cover crops were seeded on 44% of respondents’ sugarbeet acreage in 2014. Barley (18%) was the most commonly reported cover crop. Respondents from Chippewa County, Minn., reported the highest rate of cover crop seeding: 88% of beet acres.

• Survey responses confirmed the near-total adoption of GPS-based guidance systems by the region’s growers, as 98% of respondents said they
  

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