1. Clarke Alder, Crop Consultant, The Amalgamated Sugar Company
The Economics of Skipping a Glyphosate Treatment: providing growers another perspective
Clarke Alder, Crop Consultant, The Amalgamated Sugar Company

2. RRSB Technology: “With great power…”
2 Great Challenges:
Introduced in 2005 and adopted across US in 2008
Advantages over conventional beets
Lower overall input
i chemical costs
i labor costs
i fuel costs
Cleaner fields
Less disease
Yield increases
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Voltaire/Uncle Ben
Roundup Ready Crops
Multiple RR crops open the door to resistance if mismanaged
Other chemicals can be left out
Growers have become….relaxed.
Applying a single treatment per season
Waiting too long for the first treatment
Waiting too long between treatments
Assuming residual effects from glyphosate
Rates being too low
Adopted during crop season in what has been called “the fastest adoption of any biotech crop to date”. (95% acres) (monsanto.com)
Its been said that if there ever was a crop that needed RR tech, it was sugar beets.

3. Grower-Cooperator bedded, planted and watered.
Goal: With growers in mind, evaluate how many applications would provide the most economical weed control using only Roundup® Powermax. Methods
Grower-Cooperator bedded, planted and watered.
Study conducted under “normal” field conditions
Previous crop = Alfalfa (conventional)
Plots laid out after planting
6 rows x 24 ft (7.3 m)
22” rows (56 cm)
Planted 4-Apr 2014
BTS22RR5N
Irrigated with wheel lines
All other maintenance done by grower.
Plots sprayed with bicycle sprayer
11002 flat fan nozzles
22 in (56 cm) spacing
15 GPA ( psi
Harvest conducted with TASCO custom research plot harvester on 18-Sept 2014
Center 2 rows harvested
Weights taken on harvester
2 sugar/tare samples per plot

4. Treatments Roundup® Powermax + Kicker Plus TM
32 oz (Pre), 26 oz (2L), 26 oz (8L), 22 oz (RC), 3% v/v Ammonium Sulfate
Top 5 weeds:
kochia
pigweed
barnyardgrass
puncturevine lambsquarters
Table 1 . Table of glyphosate applications
Treatment
Program
Trt 1
Untreated
Trt 2
P, 2L, 8L, RC1
Trt 3
P, 8L, RC
Trt 4
P, RC
Trt 5
2L, 8L, RC
Trt 6
8L, RC
Trt 7 RC
Make A Chart.
1 P = Pre emergence
2L = 2 leaf stage
8L = 8 leaf stage
RC = immediately prior to row closure

5. Results
Table 2. Yield, stand count, and visual weed control data on sugar beets treated with glyphosate at different timings in 2014.
Stand 30 DAE1
Control 30 DAT23
Control 90 DAT
Sugar
Yield
Treatment
Beets/100 ft. row %
t/A
Untreated
178
0 e5 0e
26.52
8.36 d
P, 2, 8, RC4
184
100 a
15.97
43.44 a
P, 8, RC
185
15.56
42.16 ab
P, RC
186
97 c
99 b
15.90
41.13 ab
2, 8, RC
171
16.08
43.85 a
8, RC
170
15.54
38.29 b RC
96 c
95 c
15.59
33.84 b
LSD (P=.10)
11.11
4.39
4.2
10.56
4.3
1 Days after emergence
2 Days after treatment
3 Days after final row closure treatment
4 Applications timings included pre emergence (P), 2 leaf stage (2), 8 leaf stage (8), and row closure (RC)

6. Planting into a clean seedbed is important 2.31 t/A (5%)
Yield Comparison
Programs containing pre-emergence treatments had lower yield reductions.
Planting into a clean seedbed is important
P, 2, 8, RC
184
P, 8, RC
185
P, RC
186
43.44 a
42.16 ab
41.13 ab
2.31 t/A
(5%)
2, 8, RC
171
8, RC
170 RC
178
43.85 a
38.29 b
33.84 b
10.01 t/A
(23%)

7. 1 2

8. 3 4

9. 5 6

10. 7

11. How do we help our growers visualize what’s happening?
Table 3. Jim’s Roundup program costs1.
Complete Program
Skip One Treatment
Roundup 32 (Pre)
$1173
Roundup (Pre)
Roundup 26 (2 Leaf)
$1043
Roundup 26 (8 Leaf)
Roundup (8 Leaf)
Roundup 22 (RC)
$956
Return ($45/T)
$180,000
Custom Sprayer
($3,540)
($2,655)
Chemical Cost
($4,215)
($3,172)
Total Gross
$172,245
$174,173
Jim’s Place:
100 acres
Roundup Powermax with Kicker Plus
$45/ton beet contract
Tie back to working with growers.
1 Grower has 100 acres with a 5 year average of 40 tons per acre. He is using Roundup
Powermax (27.75/gal) with an ammonium sulfate water conditioner (10.65/gal) and the price of beets is $45 per ton.
Costs were taken from the University of Idaho Crop Input Summary for 2014 (spray 8.85/a)
65% of people are visual learners

12. Table 4. Financial loss due to yield reduction in sugar beet crop.
Treatments containing pre emergence applications1
Treatments with no pre
emergence applications2
TRT 2
TRT 3
TRT 4
TRT 5
TRT 6
TRT 7
Untreated3
Yield Reduction
None 3%
5.6% 0%
12.7%
22.8%
80.7%
Yield (T/ac)
43.44
42.16
41.13
43.85
38.29
33.84
8.367
Return4
$195,480
$189,720
$185,085
$197,325
$172,305
$152,280
$37,652
Herbicide Cost5
$7,755
$5,827
$3,899
$5,697
$3,769
$1,841 $0
“Savings”
$1,928
$3,856
Total Gross
$187,725
$183,893
$181,186
$191,628
$168,536
$150,439
Difference6
($3,832)
($6,539)
($23,092)
($41,189)
($153,976)
Actual Lost Income7
($1,904)
($2,683)
($21,164)
($37,333)
($146,221)
1 The totals listed in these treatments are in relation to treatment 2.
2 The totals listed in these treatments are in relation to treatment 5.
3 The totals for the untreated plots are in relation to treatment 2.
4 Return is based on a fixed price of $45 per ton of beets and hypothetical 100 acre farm
5 Herbicide costs included a custom applicator at $8.85/ac and chemical prices per ounce of roundup plus ammonium sulfate water conditioner.
6 This is the difference from the total gross from the column with no yield loss.
7 Difference subtract herbicide savings.

13. Working with Growers: essential
Growers benefit through
Increased awareness of options, procedures and techniques
Economical
Efficient
Early weed control pays.
The ability of growers to relate to the data we present is of insurmountable importance.
Growers today appreciate and rely on research more than in the past
Agriculturalists
Liaison between growers/company/industry
Provide insights, advice and direction to growers
Conduct research
Communicate research methods and results back to the growers who use it
Crop consultants, advisors, etc.

14. Questions? Special Thanks: Snake River Sugar Company
The Amalgamated Sugar Company LLC
Dale Martin, Grower/Cooperator
Clark Millard, Ag Manager, TASCO
Oliver Neher, Mgr. Ag. Technologies, TASCO
Greg Dean, Agronomist, TASCO
Paul Foote, Senior Research Technician, TASCO
Dylan Dean, Grunt 1, TASCO
Dakota Dean, Grunt 2, TASCO