How to achieve the perfect balance of nutrients for your sugar beet
3rd October 2019
“UK sugar beet growers need more than ever to focus on their costs of production.” says Nik Johnson of JSE Systems in Lincolnshire.
Are you achieving the perfect balance of nutrients for your sugar beet?
“UK sugar beet growers need more than ever to focus on their costs of production.” says Nik Johnson of JSE Systems in Lincolnshire. “Of course every grower will want to maximise yield as cost effectively as possible but this will mean achieving optimal soil nutrients so that crop health, yield and sugar content are at their highest level”.
Sugar beet needs the ‘top four’ – P, K, Mg and Na – to supplement the nitrogen, but trace elements play a big role – particularly boron.
Lincolnshire grower Richard Nelstrop has used Fibrophos for over 10 years and says “Fibrophos has performed well for us. It’s really cost effective and includes all the additional nutrients that you just don’t get in standard bagged product”
Fibrophos is unlike traditional straight fertilisers because it contains a full range of secondary and trace and micro elements. Richard Blew who distributes throughout East Anglia says that his farmers really value these additional soil nutrients. “After the P&K, they put a lot of value on the sodium, magnesium, manganese and of course the boron that’s present in Fibrophos. They see the boron helping to prevent Crown Rot and the calcium helps to buffer the pH of the soil so it’s a terrific all-round product”
Trials conducted by Levington Agriculture back in 1998 still hold true for the impact of Fibrophos. The results show the fertiliser to be effective in promoting sugar beet growth – the crop showed good leaf colour and vigour (greater than the plots treated with TSP and MOP) and the Fibrophos application increased root sugar content.
Geoff Mayhew in Suffolk grows 200 acres of sugar beet and has been applying Fibrophos for the last 12 years “We have used the fertiliser prior to beet and potatoes and on any land which might come into a third white straw. I have found nutrient availability excellent and crop growth vigorous. The trace element content of Fibrophos certainly gives us the boost on our light sandy loam soils Sugar beet costings remain under close scrutiny and Fibrophos will still remain a vital component of my sugar beet growing strategy”
Fibrophos PK Fertiliser is available throughout the sugar beet areas of the UK from local distributors.
