Break up and reseed - yes or no? A comparison of first and re-seeding.

摘要

Heavy frosts in 2003 put the question of reseeding onto the agenda for sugarbeet farmers. Therefore, on-farm trials in the catchment of the four sugarbeet factories Lage, Konnern, Euskirchen and Elsdorf in west and central Germany were conducted. Results showed that considering only yield or adjusted sugar yield, a break up of sugarbeet at any plant population of less then 55 000 /ha is justified. However, if reseeding costs are included (expressed as cash output) the threshold shifts towards 40 000 beets per ha. In conclusion, breaking up was only economical at three sites but then output was higher by 11-48%. The 40 000 beets per ha threshold is recommended for growers but further factors (e.g. region, prices, plant population, site specific yield expectation, sugar content) should be considered, which are included in LIZ-Neusaat software available at www.LIZ-online.de [German], recommended as a good decision support system..