Weed control in beet is proving difficult this year.

Firstly, farmers are in their first season without Debut, but also the lack of rain is an issue for weeds to emerge and for residual herbicides.

The best method of control in this weather is to split herbicide applications.

Splitting applications gives you a better chance of hitting more weeds, as, without rain, weeds are slow to emerge.

As ground is so dry, the residual herbicides will not work as well. Ideally, ground should be damp when applying a residual herbicide for best effect.

Two applications would normally suffice, but this year a third may be needed.

You should include a mix of herbicides where possible and an adjuvant as well to ensure the herbicides stick to the weeds.

Suitable products

Talk to your adviser on products suited to your crop and on rates. These may vary depending on pressure and growth stage.

Betenal Flo, Nortron, Goltix or Venzar 500 and an adjuvant are a likely mix. You may need both Goltix and Venzar.

Where grass weeds or volunteer cereals are an issue, you should include a herbicide such as Falcon, Fusilade Max or Stratos Ultra when weeds are visible.

Residual herbicides such as Goltix and Nortron will provide some grass weed control. You should also include an insecticide where Mangold Fly may be a problem.

Smart beet

Those with Conviso beet or Smart beet should apply the Conviso One herbicide at 0.5l/ha when weeds are at the cotyledon to the two- to three-leaf stage.

A second application can then be applied once another flush of weeds comes through.

You can apply 1l/ha once when the weeds have no more than four true leaves, but, in this weather, a split application may be the better option.

Make sure to clean the sprayer when moving from Conviso beet to conventional beet.

You should also clean the sprayer when moving from spraying herbicide on cereal crops to spraying Smart beet and sprayers should be cleaned after spraying Conviso beet and before spraying cereal crops.