Abstract
Defoliation timing was evaluated in Minnesota in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Sugarbeet was defoliated 7 days before, 5 days before, 3 days before, 1 day before, and on the same day as harvested. Sugarbeet quality decreased as the time between defoliation and harvest increased. Across the three-year run of the study, there was an average decrease in percent sugar of 0.2, which translated to an average loss of 65 pounds of recoverable sugar per acre just by defoliating 24 hours ahead of the harvester. There was a decrease in revenue of an average of $15 per acre per day for the first 5 days that the sugarbeets were defoliated ahead of the harvest date. This was based on a crop payment of $0.22 per pound of extractable sugar. A loss of $15 per acre per day defoliated ahead of the harvester is approximately $2,325 per day across an entire quarter.