This year's sugar campaign started at the beginning of the second decade of August. Such an early harvest allows for a wide selection of successor crops, including winter rapeseed sown in places after sugar beet, whose late sowing date may coincide with the early harvest date of beet. These are of course extreme cases, but there is a greater chance of improving the success of the conditions for the development of winter cereals.
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How much do potash fertilizers cost in mid-September?
Liming not only at low pH
When it comes to fertilization, liming should be a priority, as it allows for raising or stabilizing soil pH depending on needs and dose. The appropriate pH allows for cost optimization on the farm through better use of fertilizers and plant protection products, and therefore greater efficiency of smaller doses. Applying lime to crop residues works particularly well in wet autumn conditions. It reduces the concentration of harmful fermentation products and also ensures a large increase in the content of organic carbon and humic acids in the soil.
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How much should you pay for phosphate fertilizers in mid-September?
Beet leaves are an interesting and unusual type of crop residue, because they remain alive during harvesting, and as a result, they are closer to green manure than straw. At the beginning of the 21st century, they were quite commonly collected for cattle silage, but today, due to the low quality of such feed, this is a marginal phenomenon. Beet leaves are rich in nitrogen, potassium and calcium, in this respect they have a value similar to manure, and their mass is up to 40 t/ha. On average, they contain 3.5 kg/t N, 2.5 kg/t P2O5, 6 kg/t K2O, 1.2 kg/t CaO and 1 kg/t MgO. Mineralization of beet leaves occurs relatively quickly, and thanks to the high calcium content, the dose of lime fertilizer does not have to be large, but it is worth using them to maintain the optimal pH for the successor plant.
Natural and mineral fertilizers
Until November 30, natural fertilizers can be used without major restrictions and it is definitely worth taking advantage of this. Manure, slurry or slurry are characterized by a high content of macro- and microelements, and at the same time their advantage over mineral fertilizers is that they simultaneously provide a valuable dose of organic matter. Nitrogen supplied with the above-mentioned fertilizers allows for even better management of crop residues, but it should be remembered that natural fertilizers should not be used in the same year as lime, and if there is no other possibility, a minimum break of 4 weeks should be maintained between them.
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Imported NPK 8-20-30 fertilizer is cheaper than domestic NPK 5-15-30
If winter cereals are sown after beets, it is clear and obvious to apply pre-sowing fertilization during cultivation. However, it is worth bearing in mind that also in the case of sowing spring species, some nutrients can, and sometimes even should, be applied in autumn. This primarily concerns potassium, but especially on compact soils, also phosphorus.
Regeneration of soil structure
The subject for longer consideration is the influence of root vegetables on the soil structure in modern times. On the one hand, it is said that their deep-reaching and extensive underground parts perfectly loosen the soil, positively influencing its structure and leaving a very good position for the successor plant. On the other hand, however, practice shows that sugar beet harvesting uses machines weighing tens of tons, exerting enormous pressure on the soil, strongly compacting it, and because of this, the position after this species is difficult to cultivate, which was clearly visible during last year's wet autumn, where huge ponds formed on fields after beets overrun by heavy machinery.
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How much do nitrogen fertilizers cost in mid-September?
In this situation, using a subsoiler will be valuable. It will allow you to loosen the worn-out soil, tear off the plough sole, and, when using curved tines, the so-called Michel type, also deeply loosen the soil across the entire width of the machine. Another good solution is to equip the subsoiler with the increasingly popular double mulching roller, which with its curved tines will also loosen and mix the surface layer of soil.
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Südzucker predicts losses in the sugar industry in the 2024/25 season. Sugar prices are falling