Fodder beets. Seeds, cultivation

Fodder beet is an unusually useful vegetable used for feeding animals. It is of the greatest value for dairy cattle, being an excellent means of raising milk yields in cows and goats.

In the winter season, when the ration of animals consists predominantly of canned and dry food, the roots of beet can replenish the need for trace elements and vitamins. In summer, in addition to root crops, it is used for food and forage.

Fodder beet - an unusually useful vegetable, which includes a huge amount of pectin and mineral substances, vitamins and digestible carbohydrates. This biennial plant, whose fruits can reach 15 kg.

A bit of history

Fodder beet, along with the canteen and sugar, originated from wild beet, grown in North Asia and the Far East. Initially, this culture was not divided into subspecies, and therefore there was only one name - beets. The history of the appearance of the fodder variety as an independent agricultural crop goes back to the 16th century, to Germany.

German peasants at that time noticed that if the cow is fed with beets, then it significantly increases milk yield, and the milk itself becomes much more delicious. It is this time period that is usually associated with the appearance of a culture such as fodder beet. Soon experts studied the phenomenon. And already from the beginning of the 18th century, beetroot strewed all the European countries.

Fodder beet cultivars

Root beet roots grow in a variety of color, shape and degree of immersion in the earth. Depending on the parameters indicated, the beets are divided into the following varieties:

1. The conical shape of the vegetable, in which up to 80% of the root length is located under the ground (Umanskaya polusaharnaya, Poltava hemi-sugar beets);
2. The elongated-oval shape of the vegetable, when in the soil is 50-70% of its length (Winner);
3. Cylindrical form of the vegetable, when under the ground is located from 25 to 40% of the length (Ekkendorskaya yellow beet, Poltava white);
4. The round shape of the vegetable, in which most of the root vegetables are on the surface.

The stronger and better developed the aerial part of the root, the more easily the vegetable suffers a drought. The most popular sorts of fodder beet: Eckendorf yellow, Centaur Poli, Oberndorf red.

Features of crop rotation

In fodder crop rotations the best predecessors of beet fodder are cereal-bean mixtures, corn for silage, and melons. In field crop rotations, it is recommended to plant beets in the place where annual bean grasses, row crops and winter cereals were located earlier.

As practice shows, the best harvested beet harvests were obtained when rye, wheat, peas, maize and vegetables were placed on the site of the crop last year. You can not place beet fodder after various perennial grasses. Return this culture to the old field is allowed no earlier than 3 years.

Getting the seeds

Beet is one of those plants, seeds of which can be obtained no earlier than the 2 nd year of cultivation. In the first year, it forms the tops and root crops, and the next year, when planting the vegetable, you can get the seeds of fodder beet suitable for growing plants.

It is very important that the roots that go to the seeds are elastic and healthy. When the stem of the beet begins to dry out, the vegetable is dug and then hung in a sheltered place from the wind. In such conditions, the beets must be kept until the stalk of the plant is completely dry. After that, the seeds should be collected and dried in a small paper bag.

Soil preparation

Cultivation of fodder beet is a rather complicated process, which requires certain knowledge and skills. So, it is important to know that growing this vegetable on sandy, swampy and clay soils will not bring positive results. Stony soils are also unsuitable for the growth of root crops.

It is generally considered favorable for obtaining a good yield of fodder beet with weakly acidic, neutral reaction and weakly solonetsous soils. Ideally, this vegetable is planted in floodplains and rich chernozems.

The plant is very demanding on the fertility of the land, and therefore it is impossible to do without prior soil improvement. Only with the timely preparation of the land can we expect the emergence of amicable shoots. So, fodder beet, the cultivation of which is familiar to many farmers, at the initial stage of planting requires the preparation of soil.

It is necessary to clean the weed-covered area and release it for presowing treatment. From the weediness of bipartite annuals (quinoa, chicken millet, chicken) and grass weeds get rid of the weeding method. To free a site from such perennials as a grass or a sow-stand, it is possible by means of autumn processing by herbicides of continuous action (Roundup, Buran, Hurricane).

Application of fertilizers

Under the autumn digging, it is necessary to add compost or mature organic fertilizer to the site at the rate of 35 tons per 1 ha. An excellent fertilizer is also wood ash, which is introduced in an amount of 5 centners per hectare.

Before planting, it is necessary to plow the plots with nitroammophoska. Also, the culture needs phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. After all the manipulations done, the soil must be loose, fine-lumpy and slightly moist.

Planting of fodder beet

The vegetative period of fodder beets varies from 125 to 150 days, and therefore plant the culture in spring, from the last March days and until mid-April. It is recommended to sow this vegetable when the soil at a depth of 12 cm has already warmed up to 5-7 degrees.

On the eve of planting, the seeds should be treated with a disinfectant. So, for example, you can withstand them for half an hour in a saturated solution of manganese. To achieve the most optimal density of shoots will help their additional processing stimulators of growth. In this case, it is important not to forget that the seed material should be dried after moist procedures.

On the prepared area, it is required to make grooves with row spacing approximately 60 cm. The crop should be planted to a depth of 3 cm, and on a running meter an average of 14-15 seeds should fall (about 150 g of seeds are required for a hundred of land).

The beds should be sprinkled with earth and wait for the first shoots. In case the land is dry, it will not be superfluous to compact it with a smooth roller. This is necessary to ensure that moisture from the deep layers can be pulled closer to the surface. At a temperature of 8 degrees on average, the shoots will appear after 12 days, if the temperature is more than 15 degrees - after 4 days.

Features of care

Fodder beet, the cultivation of which - a real art, in the first month after emergence develops slowly enough. Of great importance in this period is the thinning procedure, which follows after the growth of several real leaves. So, on a running meter should be placed no more than 5 sprouts, the distance between which is not less than 25 cm.

Simultaneously with watering it is recommended to feed the shoots with ammonium nitrate, proceeding from the following proportion: 12 g per 1 running meter. After 2 weeks, another fertilizing with mineral fertilizer should be carried out.

Beet fodder is rather hygienic, and therefore the irrigations have the most direct effect on the size of the root crop and, as a consequence, on the entire yield indicator. But at the same time a month before the expected date of the beginning of harvesting, the need for liquid sharply decreases, because the vegetable begins to accumulate dry substances.

In addition, fodder root crops often suffer from weeds and, due to heavy weediness, they often do not get from 30 to 80% of the crop. Therefore, regular weeding of the rows is the key to successful cultivation of fodder beet.

Harvesting

In late summer - early autumn, the beetroot stops forming new leaves, while the old ones begin to gradually turn yellow, and then die off. The growth of root crops also stops, and the excess moisture that arrives at this time can only worsen the taste qualities of vegetables. Fodder beet, a photo of which farmers love to do so, thus capturing the results of their labor, is removed from the beds in early October, before the first frosts. Harvest a crop, somewhat digging the fruit with a shovel or pitchfork. For the purposes of long-term storage, the beetroot is cleaned from the accumulated soil and tops and stored in earthen pits or cellars at a temperature of 3 to 5 degrees. Knowing not only what a beet looks like, but how to grow a successful crop of this vegetable, any farmer will be able to make a wonderful supply of food for the winter. In addition, in the cold season, this valuable and useful culture will give animals a real pleasure.