A Rod Weeder for Sugar Beets

Growth Pattern

• Sugar beets grow slowly, providing little competition for fast-growing summer weeds, such as pigweed, barnyard grass, cocklebur and knotweed. Overwintered beets are subject to winter annual weeds as well. Emerging sugar beet plants are small and lack vigor. It takes two months for them to shade the ground enough to control weed germination and growth.

Weed Control Methods

• Failing to control weeds can reduce sugar beet yield by over 90 percent, according to the University of California at Davis. Repeated, shallow cultivation between rows is often a part of an integrated pest management approach to weed control. The soil is cultivated to a depth of 2 to 3 inches to minimize cutting the sugar beet stems and bringing weed seeds up from deeper layers.

Rod Weeder

• Weed seedlings are easier to eradicate than older weeds. A rod weeder is a square rod that revolves backwards as it is drawn forward across a field. The spiked rod rotates 1 to 3 inches under the seedbed to dislodge young weeds and cultivate the soil. The rods are positioned to cultivate the space between rows. It is attached to and pulled by a tractor.

Timing

• Uniform planting with less than 18 inches between sugar beets is optimal for weed control. A uniform stand helps plants compete with weeds and makes hand hoeing or mechanical rod weeding more successful. Mechanical weed control is coordinated with the irrigation schedule. Wet soil prevents the use of the rod weeder. Irrigation too soon after use of the rod weeder encourages weed seed germination.