How to Grow Mangel Beets
Mangel beets are sometimes known as stock or forage beets. The plants are similar to the sugar beet but utilized for livestock feed rather than processing into sugar. Growers can plant the mangel beets wherever sugar beets are grown. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Row crop seeder
- Nitrogen fertilizer
- Post-emergent herbicide approved for beets
- Beet lifter
Instructions
-
-
1
Plant the mangel beets at a rate of 25,000 seeds per acre. In small-scale operations, a higher seed density is planted and then manually thinned to the proper plant population with a hoe. A starter fertilizer of 100 lbs. of nitrogen per acre is commonly incorporated at the time of planting. Farmers often utilize the same equipment they use for other row crops such as corn, soybeans or sugar beets.
-
2
Spray post-emergent herbicides on the mangel beets when weeds are noted. The same herbicides approved for sugar beet weed control are useful for mangel beet control. Weed control becomes less of an issue as the beets develop a canopy of leaves that block sunlight from the ground and reduce seed germination.
-
-
3
Harvest the beets after the first hard frosts of the fall. Use the same type of mechanical lifters used for sugar beets. Like sugar beets, mangel beets yield large amounts with yields of over 40 tons per acre possible in ideal conditions.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Storage of the mangel beet, like the sugar beet, can be an issue. Spoilage can occur if the beets thaw after freezing. Storage requires maintaining the beets in a frozen state, which would be cost prohibitive given the volume of the mangel crop.
