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With closure of factories, sugar beet growing is being concentrated in the East Midlands and East Anglia. Sugar beet growers have always been aware of the need for good soil structure and moisture availability to get the crop away to a good start as interception of as much sunlight as possible is needed to produce high yielding crops. With British Sugar urging growers to achieve average yields of 70t/ha plus, rapid establishment and un-interrupted growth is becoming even more important. Growers must also be aware of the potential for poorer growth of succeeding crops if sugar beet is harvested when the soil is wet and susceptible to structural damage. Most growers already harvest crops grown on heavier soils first so that following crops are not compromised.
Soil organic matter
Yield/quality
Slumping and capping
Waterlogging
Poaching
Compaction
Wind erosion
Water erosion
Over the last twenty to thirty years soil organic matter levels have declined on many soils and thus soil structural stability and moisture holding capacity has been compromised. The traditional intensive cultivations for root crops such as for sugar beet seed bed preparation has, over time, contributed to this decline by causing oxidation of soil organic matter which releases carbon dioxide. Incorporation of crop residues in the topmost soil layers rather than by deep ploughing will improve structural stability and, through microbial interactions in this most biologically active layer, encourage more nutrient cycling by releasing nutrients from the incorporated matter, thereby, supplementing N supply pre-planting. Adding organic manures, be they farm or otherwise derived, is always beneficial as they encourage soil organisms to create gums which stabilise the soil and thus reduce the potential for erosion, capping and compaction. This is common practice on 25-30% of beet fields. Organic manures also supply nutrients, and care should be taken that applications do not supply more organic nitrogen than is allowed under NVZ rules where these apply, and that phosphate applications on soils already high in available phosphate do not exceed phosphate offtakes during the rotation.
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Apart from a balanced approach to plant nutrients, two things drive yield - water and sunlight. Modern varieties of sugar beet are more bolting resistant, and therefore can be sown earlier to take advantage of early summer radiation. The downside is that this is easiest to achieve when the crop is grown on lighter soils which can run out of moisture, and thus restrict yield, unless irrigation is available. Lighter soils are also less 'clingy' when it comes to harvest, resulting in lower dirt tares. In addition, British Sugar have less soil to dispose of.
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To get rapid germination through good seed to soil contact, sugar beet requires a fine seedbed. On weakly structured soils such as silts, if heavy rain falls just after drilling the soil can slake and cap. If the soil remains moist this is not a problem but if it dries out, a hard cap can form which will restrict seedling emergence. This results in poorer light interception as the individual plants are late emerging and developing.
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Sugar beet is generally grown on soils with good drainage so waterlogging, except when caused by slaking and capping, is not common. However, waterlogging commonly occurs post harvest if the soil has been wet, dragging a tine through the land can allow water to sink into the soil making preparation for the following crop possible.
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Poaching leading to surface waterlogging can occur when sheep graze aftermaths are in wet conditions. The damage is close to, or, at the surface of the soil and easily corrected by ploughing if conditions will allow, and not compromise cross compliance regulations.
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With sugar beet being grown on lighter soils it is essential that the roots can penetrate to depth and exploit the available water in the subsoil. If pans have been created during cultivations or harvesting of previous crops rooting will be impeded. It is therefore essential that the soil in fields where the crop is to be grown is examined for the presence of pans. If pans are identified remedial action must be taken. If pans have not been disrupted, their existence may be spotted as areas showing wilted crop on hot days in summer.
Compaction affecting seedling emergence can occur during seedbed preparation.If too many cultivation passes take place on soils which are slightly too wet for cultivation. In this case, judgments have to be made as to whether a delay to sowing will be more deleterious than the possibility of restricting early root growth.
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Soil losses from wind erosion can be environmentally and economically damaging on peaty soils and light land in spring. The key to reducing wind erosion is to slow down the wind. Shelter belts help, but must be maintained correctly, so that they filter the wind and do not have an open bottom. Where there are problems of wind erosion trash from previous crop should always be left on the soil surface; on fields where wind erosion is severe a nurse crop should be considered.
The presence of surface undulations is key to minimising wind erosion and the standard technique in many areas is 'plough - press- and cross drill', (promising responses have also been achieved by reticulated rolling (Aqueel) on severely erosion prone soils). However, should crops be grown on soils where wind erosion is likely, rolling wet soil and then using a tined cultivator as the soil dries to leave a cloddy surface can also be effective, but may affect crop growth.
Mulching the soil after drilling with slurry or other organic materials can provide effective control of wind erosion as can synthetic stabilisers, which will also prevent capping, however these are expensive and generally used only on vegetable crops.
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Existing compaction must always be removed before establishing the crop and cultivations timed to avoid creating new compaction. Stubble or residues from previous crops should be left for as long as possible before drilling. Drilling directly into loosened rows in cereal stubbles or sprayed off cover crops will also minimise water erosion.
If ploughing is needed, do not overwork the land and drill directly into furrow pressed land. If safe to do so, and harvesting will not be compromised, drill across the slope but avoid wheelings leading to valley features where water can be concentrated. On those few fields where irrigation is used, do not over irrigate. On land where water erosion is known to occur post cropping, establish the next crop as soon as possible or rough plough or tine the land so that rain can seep away.
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Report of a BBRO workshop held on 20 April 2007  (693kb)
BBRO Technical article, Autumn 2006, including 12 point action plan (955kb)
Minimum tillage establishment of sugar beet (776kb)
For more information about sugar beet, go to the British Beet Research Organisation's website at: http://www.bbro.co.uk/
Or visit the UK Sugar Beet Portal at: http://www.uksugarbeet.co.uk/Tools/GrowersGuide/Default.aspx?s=4 | 
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