Impact of herbicide carryover and drift on sugar beet yield and a decision-making guide for growers experiencing impact from non-target herbicide effects.

Each year crop consultants and agronomists are contacted by growers needing assistance with issues regarding herbicide applications both past and present.  Despite pesticide label instructions, consultant recommendations, and advanced spray technologies, issues involving both carryover and drift of herbicides into non-target crops such as sugar beets continue to be a problem each season.  On occasion, a grower may experience a scenario where a speedy decision needs to be made whether to keep a sugar beet crop for the duration of the season or replace it with an alternative crop.  Trials were initiated at two locations in 2022, 2023, and 2024 evaluating the impacts of both carryover and drift of several herbicides representing HRAC groups common within crop rotations in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon.  The object of the studies is to develop a guide aiding growers in the decision of whether to keep an impacted sugar beet crop for the duration of the season.  Impacts from the herbicides have been largely yield-driven with minimal impact on sugar content.  Storability, processability, and even the ability to harvest properly may be a problem depending on the herbicide group affecting the sugar beet crop and is being assessed for the 2024 trials.