ARS | Publication request: Sugar Beet Activities of the USDA-ARS East Lansing Conducted in Cooperation with Saginaw Valley Bean and Beet Farm During 2009

Submitted to: Annual Beet Sugar Development Foundation Research Report
Publication Type: Research Notes
Publication Acceptance Date: May 15, 2010
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Citation: McGrath, J.M., Hanson, L.E., Naegele, R.P., Duckert, T.M., Goodwill, T.R., Shaw, R.S. 2010. Sugar Beet Activities of the USDA-ARS East Lansing Conducted in Cooperation with Saginaw Valley Bean and Beet Farm During 2009 [CD-ROM]. 2010 Annual Beet Sugar Development Foundation Research Report. Denver, Colorado: Beet Sugar Development Foundation.

Technical Abstract: Two evaluation plots were planted at the Saginaw Valley Research & Extension Center in Frankenmuth, MI in 2009; one agronomic trial and one combined Cercospora evaluation trial. All trials were planted, following normal fall and spring tillage operations, with a USDA-ARS modified John Deere/Almaco research plot planter utilizing global positioning with real time kinematic correction signals. Test 09BB01 was planted May 4th and harvest was September 22nd. The test contained 40 experimental breeding lines being evaluated for potential release and two commercial check varieties. Broadly, experimental entries were more advanced germplasm from a number of improvement schemes. These included 18 Smooth-root (SR; four with Rhizoctonia resistance in their genetic background), 10 populations tracing their majority parentage to more traditional East Lansing breeding lines, 7 combinations of SR and nematode resistance derived from the wild species Beta vulgaris spp. maritima, two selections derived from salt-tolerant germination selections, and three other germplasms. Two of these others had Cytoplasmic Male Sterile genetic backgrounds and one had a new Aphanomyces resistance derived from the wild species. Sucrose content ranged from 13.4% to 18.4%, root yield ranged from 17.8 to 37.2 tons per acre, and recoverable white sugar per acre (RWSA) ranged from 4018.8 to 9785.8 pounds.