Arable
Beet yield competition winners sow for success
A
Norfolk sugar beet grow- er scooped top place in a competition to fi nd grow-
ers who have achieved the high- est percentage of their crop’s max- imum potential yield. Will Jones of Salle Farms,
Norfolk, was named as the over- all winner of the inaugural Beet Research
Organisation Beet
Yield Challenge – an indus- try initiative set up in 2016 be- tween British Sugar, the BBRO, NFU and Hutchinsons, with Dr Philip Draycott as an independ- ent expert.
The overall champion was named at the Royal Norfolk Show last month. Other grow- ers from East Anglia were among the area winners, including Guy Hitchcock, of Hitchcock Farms, Suffolk; and Mark Means of JS Means, Norfolk. All four fi nalists established
more than 110,000 plants/ha and maximised early ground cover to help crops exceed 85% of the tar- get yield potential for their re- spective sites, as assessed by the BBRO using the Beet Gro model.
Rapid canopy growth Across all 28 fi elds entered dur- ing the 2017/18 season, the aver- age yield of 97.4t/ha was equiv- alent to an impressive 73.5% of estimated potential yield, due in part to favourable early summer weather allowing rapid canopy growth followed by plenty of rain to keep everything going.
The Salle Estate – winners of the beet yield competition (l-r): Paul Hoveson, Martin Clinger, show president Ben Turner, Ryan Fulcher, Will Jones, Sam Bilverstone and Marshall Drew.
Hutchinsons root crop tech- nical manager Darryl Shailes said: “People are always looking for a quick fi x or silver bullet to increase yields, but there isn’t one and this competition clearly shows that maximising yields is about doing the basic things re- ally well with incredible atten- tion to detail.
“Creating the right seedbed conditions and sowing crops at a rate that achieves the optimum plant population and good early ground cover to maximise light interception is fundamental.” This meant ideal cultiva- tion systems, sowing dates, crop agronomy and harvest regimes would vary for individual farm
“
Maximising yields is about doing the basic things really well
situations and soil types, with marginal gains in each area com- bining to give a bigger overall per- formance.
Crop potential
A 1% improvement in everything you do could add up to something remarkable, said Mr Shailes. “One of the comments around this huge effort of capturing in excess of 95% of the crop’s poten- tial was that it was about doing
lots of things just a little bit bet- ter every year.”
The BBRO recommends at least 100,000 plants/ha must be established for optimum yield. Drilling at 1.25 units/ha will achieve this target where es- tablishment is 80%. But estab- lishment is often lower, which reduces the established plant population and limits yield po- tential from the outset.
As the winners demonstrat-
ed, establishment is a big part of their success. “You need to look carefully at exactly what es- tablishment percentage you’re achieving in the fi eld and fi nd ways to improve it, or increase seed rates, where it isn’t giving the optimum plant stand.”
Different factors
Establishment is often lower on headlands and areas where seed- beds are poor, so there may be a case for using variable seed rates, said Mr Shailes. Just one shad- ing plant/m2
could cause a 1t/ha
yield loss. Having the correct pH was also vital and something that was easily overlooked. More generally, the focus should be on avoiding or correct- ing soil compaction, which can inhibit germination and root growth; providing adequate early nitrogen to support rapid, dense canopy growth; and minimising weed competition. “It’s not necessarily about late- ness of harvest, because the win- ning crop was lifted relatively ear- ly,” said Mr Shailes. “The fi rst year of the Challenge went very well and we learnt a lot. Hopefully the 4 winners pick up a few tips from their trip to the AB sugar plant in Spain to further push British beet yields forward.”
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