The delayed sugarbeet planting brings concern about cover crop termination. Cover crops are a cool season grass and continue to grow through this wet and cold spring. Extension sugarbeet agronomist Tom Peters says the cover crops are a challenge. “Allowing rye to get more than eight to 12 inches tall is problematic. We can’t let that happen. To some degree, it’s going to be more about what wheat turns out to be. Can we get out into the field to till or spray? More planting delays create a greater urgency.” Over spraying the cover crop before planting may be the best option. “It goes back to herbicide plans. I think that’s what we’ll wind up doing: tilling with Roundup or slowing things down with other products. Those applications could be with a pre-emergence herbicide as well.”
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