Due to last year’s dry fall and the late start this year, a defoliant application farmers used in 2022 in dry beans carried over and has had reportedly adverse effects on sugarbeets planted in the same field. NDSU and University of Minnesota Extension Sugarbeet Agronomist Tom Peters says it was the perfect storm. “There’s a crop rotational interval where we can safety plant our next crop after putting down applicants, and unfortunately, 2022-2023 was a unique year.” According to Peters, the defoliate application probably wiped-out 50 percent of the sugarbeet crop in fields with carryover. “The sugarbeets germinated and emerged as normal, but over the course of a week or so, there was a significant loss of stand.”
