Satellite and Related Success Stories.

The most profitable sugarbeet production for both the grower and processor requires enough N to produce high root yield; however, higher N than required to achieve yield lowers the concentration of sugar in the root. High late season N is transferred to sugarbeet leaves, which are returned to the soil during the harvest procedure and contribute to the available N reserve for the subsequent crop. Sugarbeet is grown in a rotation with other crops. If the rotational crops are over-fertilized, it is difficult to manage N in the sugarbeet crop, since sugarbeet roots grow nearly 3 m deep and recover much of the excess N from previous crops. Satellite imagery can be used and has been used to identify areas in sugarbeet fields where excessive N was available. Although the technology has not been used to aid the current crop, it is useful to reduce N to subsequent crops and helps to reduce excess N the next time that sugarbeets are grown in the field. Over 40 percent of sugarbeet acres in the Red River Valley currently use satellite imagery to provide improved N nutrition to their sugarbeets and other rotational crops.