Beet requires a lot of expertise and machinery, so it might not be a very easy crop to begin to grow this season, but it may be worth contacting someone growing crops locally to ensure fodder stocks for the winter.

Gustea is a new high dry matter beet variety for the 2022 season.

Gustea is also reported to have good leaves at harvest

On the market from Goldcrop, the variety has a relative root dry matter yield of 106 and a relative root fresh yield of 99, according to the company.

This is compared to popular variety Enermax at 100 for both root dry matter and fresh yield. Gustea is also reported to have good leaves at harvest.

Delicante was new for the 2021 season. It has a relative fresh yield of 107, according to supplier DLF.

Well-known varieties, Magnum and Enermax, will no doubt remain sought after. Both white beets offer consistent yields and dry matter contents.

Conviso beet

Smart Janninka and Smart Sanya are two varieties on offer from the Conviso beet category, which can be useful in a situation where weed beet is present, but this variety needs to be grown with care.

It should be noted that while Conviso Smart beet offers a solution to weed beet, these varieties generally yield lower than conventional varieties at under 34t/ac fresh yield, compared with Enermax at under 36t/ac, for example.

This is the second year that Conviso Smart beet has been available on the commercial market and farmers need to keep the following in mind.

  • Do not mix classic varieties with Conviso varieties in a field.
  • Empty the seed drill before planting Conviso beet.
  • If bolters appear in the field they should be pulled.
  • Weed beet of SMART varieties cannot be controlled by Conviso One herbicide.
  • Winter wheat is the only planting option in the autumn after planting Conviso beet.
  • Beet: the basics

    Anyone planting beet will need to look at their soil pH status which should be at 7. Fields should be relatively dry and have good access for harvesting in the autumn and winter.