02/20/07 Biotech sugarbeets

Many southern Idaho farmers are growing Roundup Ready corn and alfalfa. Next year you can expect many of them to also grow Roundup Ready sugarbeets. Four separate fields, about 300 acres total, were planted with Roundup Ready beets last year. MORISHITA "And the weed control in the Roundup Ready beets was just outstanding in all four of the fields. The growers all had really good experiences with them not to say that there couldn't be some problems. You're still going to have to be timely with the chemical application and everything." Don Morishita of the University of Idaho ag extension says the difference between those fields and conventional ones was very evident. One grower, Duane Grant of Rupert said the tonnage exceeded the conventional beets. But Morishita says some Midwest growers are already seeing resistance to the Roundup in their soybean and corn crops. MORISHITA "If we use the knowledge gained from their growers experience back there and not just rely only on Roundup for our weed control I think we can either prevent the Roundup resistance from developing or at least delay it before it becomes a big problem." He says growers should still grow beets the conventional way to help ensure that chemical companies continue to produce herbicides for sugar beets. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott