With the chlorpyrifos ban in place, sugarbeet growers will use different products to control the sugarbeet root maggot this year. Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative Vice President of Agriculture Mike Metzger says there are several pockets of sugarbeet root maggots in the growing area, but the situation is worse in the northern Red River Valley. “The biggest issue in our growing area is around Sabin, Minnesota. There are a variety of other chemistries available for post-emergence control of the sugarbeet root maggot. I’d argue some of them aren’t as effective as chlorpyrifos, but they offer some form of suppression. That’s what we have to use and that’s what we’re recommending for growers.” In a delayed planting season, sugarbeets may enter into a disease window or insect infestation at an earlier growth stage. “It’s like giving pneumonia to a healthy, 40-year-old or an infant. Obviously, the infant is going to have a more serious response. When there’s a sugarbeet in the two-to-four leaf stage going into the fly period, the damage can be a lot more severe given the size.”
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