This is the Sugarbeet Report, bringing you the latest information from NDSU throughout the sugar beet growing season. So far, the sugar beet growing season has been variable. For many, disease and insects have been a bit suppressed by the dry conditions, but the lack of water is also taking its toll on the beets. Eric Branch, NDSU and University of Minnesota Extension Sugarbeet specialist, has the latest. Eric, from a pathologist's view, how are the beets doing?

Right. So the sugarbeets this year, depending of course on where you are, have had a very relatively light year four diseases, both fruit diseases and foliar diseases. And the reason that is is because of well, I'll start with what we pathologists call the plant disease triangle. So there are three corners of that triangle, a susceptible host, that's our Sugarbeet. We're always gonna have Sugarbeet in the valley. The pathogen being present, whether that's inoculum in the soil, like for Rhizoctonia or Cercospora leaf spot where we have the spores crop residue in the spring and spores in the air. And of course, of those are always gonna be there, but moisture, that conducive environment and moisture and heat are the two main factors. We have not had a lot of moisture this year. So disease both soil borne and for foliar diseases, fairly light. Of course, we do have high temperatures and humidity which do indicate risk for cercospora leaf spot as well. Those pathology principles can translate into what we see in the real world where we're seeing relatively light disease compared to previous years. And again, following the rainfall, following the moisture.

Speaking of rainfall, are the beets handling the dry conditions?

Sugarbeets are fairly dry this year, especially in the Central Valley. There was a spot of rain going through Clay County as we record Bruce yesterday, but it was sparse and did not turn out to be much after all. Sugarbeets, when they are drier, tend to be okay in terms of sugar content where the percent sucrose is fairly high or can be higher than average, and we do see that. This year, however, without the moisture, these beets can't pack on the tons and kind of bulk up under the ground like they can sometimes.

What else should farmers be spending their time on?

You know, this time of the year, Bruce, is the time to take good notes. Harvest from here on out really is a blur. So any Rasoctonia hotspots that do pop up or areas of the fields where Cercospora was especially heavy or is looking to be especially heavy, you know, it's note taking season both for me and my research trials and for growers in the field to kinda get a head start on thinking about next year. It's a long way off, but next year's gonna be here eventually. We don't wanna be worrying about that once harvest kicks off full bore. Any thoughts about prepile? Sugarbeet prepile is ongoing right now throughout the region, and that's a nice opportunity, you know, in terms of disease management to kind of pick the fields that are a little bit more prone to Cercospora leaf spot or Rhizoctonia, these fields that have some disease developing in order to leave the beets behind that still have a lot of potential. Where the most gains in sugar can occur in the healthiest, nicest field is a strategy a lot of growers use to operate and choose which acres to prepile.

Eric, could you share some details about the final plot tour coming up? So we do have

a plot tour coming up August 25 at a Fox Home location. We have the details online at sbreb.org, and it's gonna be a great opportunity to see Cercospora leaf spot ranging in severity from, practically nothing all the way to a nine or a 10. A nice range of disease symptoms that we can see at this time of the year. We'll serve lunch after the plot tour, so please stay for that. Thanks to our sponsor, Cortav AgroScience. We always like to take care of our growers and our attendees when possible.

Thanks, Eric. Our guest has been Eric Branch, NDSU and University of Minnesota Extension Sugarbeet Specialist. This is the Sugarbeet Report, bringing you the latest information from NDSU throughout the sugar beet growing season.