This crops watch article is sponsored by Terrachem, a leading supplier of crop protection products to the Irish market.
In this Cropswatch instalment on beet, Terrachem’s Margaret Murphy discusses new spray programmes without desmedipham and issues surrounding our current cold spell.
This year we don’t have desmedipham available, so products that were the backbone of beet weed control like Betanal Maxx Pro are not feasible. Instead, we are relying on replacement products based on the straight active ingredients phenmedipham and ethofumesate, to provide the same weed control.
Achieving weed-free beet will be a little trickier and this is compounded by the current weather fluctuations and crops being under stress from frost.
In times like these, as little as a few ml of chemistry too little can deliver poor weed control, or a few ml too much can cause crop damage. Adhering to recommendations is key.
Early weed control is essential in achieving a clean crop, and crops should be assessed in 7-10 days after T1 to allow the T2 in 10-14 days.
For this crop, at 100% emergence, with a green haze of weeds Margaret recommends:
Debut 30g/ha + Betanal Flow SE 160 0.3 l/ha + Nortron SC 500 90ml/ha + Venzar 0.4 l/ha + Mondello 0.5 l/ha + Super Rapeeze 0.5 l/ha.
This will be applied as a split dose (50% followed by 50%) with a five day spray interval between applications. The split dose is a little kinder to the crop and reduced the stress caused by the herbicides.
Conviso smart beet, Margaret recommends applying 0.5L/ha Mondello as a foundation spray followed by 0.5L/ha Conviso One. Conviso One is applied once a marker weed such as fat hen reaches expanded cotyledon to first pair of true leaves.
There are numerous spray recommendations and this year is very important to tailor the recommendation to the weeds present and the health of the crop.
If weather is not favourable and the beet crop is stressed it is advised not spray as weeds can be controlled later with shorter rotations and perhaps an additional spray.
For more information…