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“Sugarbeet Report” presented by NDSU Extension, features growing tips from NDSU sugar beet specialists and researchers.
This is the Sugarbeet Report, bringing you the latest information from NDSU throughout the sugar beet growing season. Now that peak fly has passed, we can relax. Right? Nope. The sugar beet root maggot is feeding on your crops, and its numbers are on the rise. Mark Botel, NDSU Extension Entomologist, has the latest. Mark, even though we're past peak fly, what's the Root Maggot situation?
Mark Botel:Well, it's certainly been interesting this year. We're again monitoring several fields this year. We're monitoring a 100 fields in collaboration with American Crystal. What happened this year was we did have peak fly occur about a week earlier than normal or the historical average between about the seventh and ninth of June. It's difficult to define the exact true peak this year. Certainly, it did happen during that time. They had emerged by that time, But we had a lot of hot weather in late May and leading into early June, which resulted in some very intense hot spots quite early in the growing season near the end of May. For the second consecutive year, and I'm not proud to report this, but populations continue to be on the rise. They're kind of bouncing back up. We're gonna go into as many of those monitored fields as we can to rate them for root maggot feeding injury to kind of ground truth our fly counts and see what happened with growers' ability to control them, and that will help us build the forecast for next year.
Bruce Sundeen:Where are the hot spots?
Mark Botel:There is a little bit of a shuffle from previous years, but Grafton, Park River were quite high this year, the highest. Crookston, Saint Thomas, which is a perennial hotspot. Crystal, Merrifield, down by Grand Forks, Cavalier, Borep, Reynolds, and Ada were what we would classify as very high activity. And then we had moderately high activity as well near Buxton, Lockhart, Sabin, Veslieville, and Fisher.
Bruce Sundeen:Mark, what are the root maggots up to right now?
Mark Botel:There's a little bit of fly activity going on, but it's really subsided. It's been very low the last few days, and we know now that larval feeding is well on its way in full swing. And in some cases, they're beginning to take plants down. So we are seeing some wilting in our research plots where we have little to no control or where we have an untreated control. In grower fields that are under protected or have a maybe a low rate of an insecticide or no protection, those are gonna really begin to wilt and in some cases, plants will die latter part of this week and into the next with it reaching, you know, the high eighties. Those fields are gonna show stress for sure.
Bruce Sundeen:Can this year's problems guide growers for next year?
Mark Botel:They sure can. Yes. Certainly, this year's hot spots are a very good indicator of what to expect the next year. Again, I'll kinda go back to those root ratings as well that we'll go back and and see what happened below ground as well, But the forecast for 2027 is gonna be largely dependent on that fly activity and the ensuing damage. So that'll tell us what's likely to happen in 2027.
Bruce Sundeen:Mark, you have a plot tour coming up.
Mark Botel:I do. Yes. It's coming right around the corner, July 13. Just wanna remind people that that's a Monday. We will start at Saint Thomas. The location will be posted on my website as well as with the Sugar Co ops, but a 10:00 sharp start, and it'll be the root maggot control tour, and we'll have some really neat things to show people. We've got multiple experiments on root maggot control, but we also have some work on USDA projects on breeding for root maggot control. Another collaborator from USDA that I'm working with this year has some work going on out there on sugarbeet root maggot repellents and attractants. And then doctor Branch, Eric Branch, will be talking a little bit about his Cercospora leaf spot control research that's going on at Saint Thomas as well. And to hopefully attract people as well, we've got a sponsored lunch and great refreshments that will be served as well. It's a great gathering time as well with a lot of growers, industry people, agriculturists, county extension personnel as well. Really encourage people to attend.
Bruce Sundeen:How can people get more information and directions to the tour?
Mark Botel:We will post details on directions. There will be a mailing, a emailing that will come out with details on this tour and other NDSU and University of Minnesota Sugarbeet related tours, and that information will be posted on NDSU's website as well as that of American Crystal and MnDAC.
Bruce Sundeen:Thanks, Mark. Our guest has been Mark Botel, NDSU Extension Entomologist. This is the Sugarbeet Report, bringing you the latest information from NDSU throughout the sugar beet growing season.