Beet 08: Cover crops would be a disaster for sugar beet growers

The requirement for cover crops on land not sown to cereals in the autumn proposed in the current Nitrates Action Programme consultation would be a disaster for many sugar beet growers, Keith Jaggard of Broom’s Barn said.


The idea of cover crops was to trap nitrogen in the autumn to prevent it leaching, he explained. But a series of BBRO-funded trials back in the early 90s showed cover crops established in late August trapped just 1kgN/ha more than leaving that land with tail corn and weeds from the previous crop. “Why spend £50/ha to trap 1kgN/ha?”


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Cover crops sown after winter barley did trap larger amounts of nitrogen, he admitted. “But in reality how many growers will have time to do this at that time. Most will be harvesting.”


The proposal is for cover crops to be established until 31 December. That would be a disaster for sugar beet growers, especially those on heavy land, who wouldn’t be able to plough until January and would struggle to produce the good seed-beds required, he said. “Cover crops stop growing around mid-November, so why have them after that? Let’s just hope DEFRA listens.”


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