Agriculture: Sugarbeet Pest Management Guidelines

Herbicide Treatment Table

Common name Amount per acre REI‡ PHI‡
(Example trade name) (hours) (days)
Not all registered pesticides are listed. The following are listed alphabetically. When choosing a pesticide, consider information relating to environmental impact, resistance management, the pesticide's properties, and application timing. Tank mixes may be necessary to achieve desired control; see Susceptibility of Winter Weeds to Herbicide Control and Susceptibility of Spring and Summer Weeds to Herbicide Control for information on specific weed control. Always read the label of the product being used.
 
BEFORE PLANTING
Preplant foliar
A. GLYPHOSATE
  (Roundup, Touchdown) Label rates See comments NA
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 9
  COMMENTS: Apply to emerged annual weeds at least 3 days before sowing crop or before it emerges. Weeds should be less than 4 inches tall and vigorously growing. Observe label restrictions for application. Restricted entry interval (REI) for Roundup is 4 hours and for Touchdown 12 hours.
 
B. PARAQUAT* 0.5–1 lb a.i.
  (Gramoxone SL 2.0) 2–4 pt 12 NA
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 22
  COMMENTS: Apply to emerged annual weeds before sowing crop or before it emerges. Use a nonionic surfactant     (1 pt/100 gallons). Grasses after tillering not well controlled. Avoid drift from treated area. Flush all spray equipment directly after use; paraquat may be corrosive to aluminum.
 
Preplant incorporated
A. CYCLOATE 3–3.99 lb a.i.
  (Ro-Neet 6E) 4.0-5.33 pt 48 NA
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 8
  COMMENTS: Incorporate into soil immediately after application; use of power driven tiller preferred. Use only in mineral soils; lower rate in sandy soil, higher rate in heavy soils. May slow beet germination and seedling growth. Make only one application per growing season.
 
B. ETHOFUMESATE 1–2 lb a.i.
  (Nortron SC) 1–2 qt 12 NA
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 8
  COMMENTS: Incorporate 1 to 2 inches deep with power-driven tiller. Temporary stunting with leaf fusion may occur.
 
AFTER PLANTING
Preemergence (Herbicides applied after planting but before irrigation)
A. ETHOFUMESATE 1.125–3.75 lb a.i.
  (Nortron SC) 1.125–3.75 qt 12 NA
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 8
  COMMENTS: Temporary stunting with leaf fusion and twisting may occur.
 
Postemergence (seedling stages)
A. CLETHODIM 0.09–0.2425 lb a.i.
  (Select Max) 11.88–32 oz 24 40
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 1
  COMMENTS: Keep spray volume at 20 to 30 gallon/acre for best activity. Use with a nonionic surfactant. Adequate soil moisture required for best activity. Do not mix with other herbicides. Controls annual bluegrass when plants have fewer than eight leaves. Perennial grasses may require repeat applications.
 
B. CLOPYRALID 0.09–0.25 lb a.e.
  (Stinger) 0.25–0.66 pt 12 45
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 4
  COMMENTS: Apply when crop and weeds are at cotyledon stage of growth; delayed application can increase risk of crop injury. Effective for controlling velvetleaf and cocklebur. It can be tank-mixed with UpBeet, Betamix, or Progress for broader weed control. Do not exceed 0.25 lb/acre per season. Refer to label for significant plant-back restrictions.
 
C. DESMEDIPHAM 0.73125-1.21875 lb a.i.
  (Betanex) 4.5-7.5 pt 24 75
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 5
  COMMENTS: Temporary sugarbeet stunting may occur, with possible sugarbeet kill at temperatures over 85°F. Adequate soil moisture must be present at application, or furrow irrigate after treatment. If pigweed is the primary species, desmedipham alone provides better control than in a mixture with phenmedipham. Does not have soil activity.
 
D. PHENMEDIPHAM/DESMEDIPHAM 0.24–0.75 lb a.i.
  (Betamix) 1.5–4.5 pt 24 75
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 5/5
  COMMENTS: Temporary sugarbeet stunting may occur, with possible sugarbeet kill at temperatures over 85°F. Treat cotyledon-stage beets for best results. Control is erratic if weeds are larger than 2-leaf stage. Adequate soil moisture must be present at application, or furrow irrigate after treatment. Application after 3:00 pm increases safety to crop. Split applications about 7 days apart (50% of rate applied at each application) are safer and more effective than single applications. Do not exceed 0.5 lb/acre at the first application when applying to cotyledon-stage beets.
 
E. PHENMEDIPHAM/DESMEDIPHAM 0.24 lb a.i.
  (Betamix) 1.5 pt 24 75
  . . . PLUS . . .
ETHOFUMESATE 0.125 lb a.i.
  (Nortron SC) 0.25 pt 12 90
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 5/5 plus 8
  COMMENTS: Temporary sugarbeet stunting may occur, with possible sugarbeet kill at temperatures over 85°F. Treat cotyledon-stage beets for best results. Control is erratic if weeds are larger than 2-leaf stage. Adequate soil moisture must be present at application, or furrow irrigate after treatment. Application after 3:00 pm increases safety to crop. Split applications about 7 days apart (50% of rate applied at each application) are safer and more effective than single applications. Do not exceed 0.5 lb/acre at the first application when applying to cotyledon-stage beets. This mixture can provide improved control of difficult-to-control weeds such as knotweed. For tank mixes, observe all directions for use on all labels, and employ the most restrictive limits and precautions. Never exceed the maximum a.i. on any label when tank mixing products that contain the same a.i.
 
F. PHENMEDIPHAM/DESMEDIPHAM/
ETHOFUMESATE
0.25–0.75 lb a.i.
  (Progress) 1.11–3.33 pt 48 75
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 5/5/8
  COMMENTS: A premixed herbicide applied as a split-sequential application 7 to 10 days apart, beginning at the crop and weed cotyledon stage. Can be tank-mixed with UpBeet and Stinger for broader weed control.
 
G. SETHOXYDIM 0.25–0.45 lb a.i.
  (Poast) 1.33–2.5 pt 12 60
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 1
  COMMENTS: Keep spray volume 20 to 30 gallons/acre for best activity and apply with a crop oil concentrate adjuvant (1 qt/acre). Adequate soil moisture required for best activity. Do not mix with other herbicides. High spray volume leads to reduced activity; follow label restrictions in relation to spray volume to use. Will not control annual bluegrass; perennial grasses may require repeat treatments.
 
H. TRIFLUSULFURON-METHYL 0.016–0.031 lb a.i.
  (UpBeet) 0.5–1 oz 4 60
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 2
  COMMENTS: Apply as a split-sequential application 5 to 10 days apart, beginning at the cotyledon stage of the crop and weeds. Two applications required in most cases for effective control. Use with a nonionic surfactant. It may be tank-mixed with Betamix, Progress, or Stinger to broaden weed control. Do not mix with grass herbicides (Poast or Prism). Use with caution to prevent weed resistance following other ALS-inhibiting herbicides, such as Raptor, Staple, or Matrix.
 
LAYBY (after thinning)
A. EPTC 2 lb a.i.
  (Eptam 7E) 2.29 pt 12 49
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 8
  COMMENTS: Inject into irrigation water; use only where uniform irrigation can be achieved. Will not control emerged seedlings or established plants. Do not permit treated water to run off field or use it for irrigating other crops. Follow-up repeat application is required for best activity.
  . . . or . . .
EPTC 3 lb a.i.
  (Eptam 20-G) 15 lb 12 49
  COMMENTS: Must be thoroughly incorporated into soil.
 
B. TRIFLURALIN 0.75 lb a.i.
  (Treflan HFP) 1.5 pt 12 NA
  WSSA MODE-OF-ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 3
  COMMENTS: Incorporate into soil immediately after application; use of ground-driven rolling cultivator is preferred. Avoid piling treated soil into the beet crowns. Field must be weed-free at treatment; does not control emerged weeds.
Restricted entry interval (REI) is the number of hours (unless otherwise noted) from treatment until the treated area can be safely entered without protective clothing. Preharvest interval (PHI) is the number of days from treatment to harvest. In some cases the REI exceeds the PHI. The longer of two intervals is the minimum time that must elapse before harvest.
* Permit required from county agricultural commissioner for purchase or use.
1 Group numbers are assigned by the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) according to different modes of action. Although weeds may exhibit multiple resistance across many groups, mode-of-action numbers are useful in planning mixtures or rotations of herbicides with different modes of action.
NA Not applicable.
Text Updated: 09/16
Treatment Table Updated: 09/16
Feedback