1st time beet grower

Im going to pull 4 or 5 rows off the headland and open the field as the harvester tramples so much
 
Would it take long to lift a acre of beet by hand?
Sorry for the smart arse answer earlier, pulling beet by hand is a bastard of a job, in a low DM variety isn't as bad but high DM/sugarbeet type varieties would brake your back and ruin your joints.
 
I heard of a man that went to the dentist maybe 20 years ago to have a tooth pulled, the dentist looked for 50 quid, yer man replied " I'd have to pull an acre of beet for that money"
 
We used to have around 10 acres of sugar beet and would pull 6 drills all round by hand and then crown it into heaps and then handball into trailer. Three separate jobs. Eventually we relented and just pulled the corners. Can't imagine finding anyone to do it now.
 
We used to have around 10 acres of sugar beet and would pull 6 drills all round by hand and then crown it into heaps and then handball into trailer. Three separate jobs. Eventually we relented and just pulled the corners. Can't imagine finding anyone to do it now.
They would be thin on the ground allright!
 
How wrong you are !! Cousin of mine still does it, takes out headlands alround, opens lands up through it, even gathers the tops off the ground all by hand on his own,,!!!! "not too many calling there at this time of year":sweat:
What sort of acerage are we talking about? Age of person?
 
A good block layer would handle 15 to 20 tonne a day in footings.
Very little physical labour in farming nowadays.
 
A good block layer would handle 15 to 20 tonne a day in footings.
Very little physical labour in farming nowadays.

I guess with beet, it’s the physical pulling it out of the ground that’s the killer as opposed to just handling the tonnage. Especially deeper rooting varieties as Gone says.
 
I often pulled the soft fodder beet and it would not take too much effort, only be similar to picking potatoes. Very different pulling proper sugar beet, some of the beet would take serious effort to pull, I would rather shear sheep than pull sugar beet that was not loosened up in some way.
 
I often pulled the soft fodder beet and it would not take too much effort, only be similar to picking potatoes. Very different pulling proper sugar beet, some of the beet would take serious effort to pull, I would rather shear sheep than pull sugar beet that was not loosened up in some way.

We used to sow 2 acres of fodder beet here for years. Often pulled it by hand , but usually sowed Kyros , or some other yellow lowish dry matter variety. Use the to bother crowning it . Just try it up in the trailer , tip in a heap , and cover with a sheet of plastic to protect it from frost. Tops would shrivel up.
In later years we got a contractor with an Armer to pull it , but when the sugar beet factory’s closed , the harvesters went , and we gave it up.

A few harvesters knocking around again. One local man has a pair of Armers , a single and twin row.
Don’t think I will bother with sowing it again. Sprays too expensive to buy , unless you have the right area sowed to suit container size.
 
Contract growing of beet for fodder is becoming big business down this way. Dairy lads buying it. Works well for both tillage and dairy farmer
 
Contract growing of beet for fodder is becoming big business down this way. Dairy lads buying it. Works well for both tillage and dairy farmer

A few lads growing it for sale around here too. The man I mentioned with the 2 harvesters feeds a lot of it , and sells a good bit too. Could grow 50 + acres of it.
 
Contract growing of beet for fodder is becoming big business down this way. Dairy lads buying it. Works well for both tillage and dairy farmer
Usually works well until we have a short winter, next thing contract growing farmer is left with a big heap of beet. I took 4 loads of a friend down near yourself as a favour a few years ago that some goon backed out of
 
Usually works well until we have a short winter, next thing contract growing farmer is left with a big heap of beet. I took 4 loads of a friend down near yourself as a favour a few years ago that some goon backed out of
Chop it and ensile it with the grass:Thumbp2:
 
After the factory closed we grew for a few years after but gave up. Selling direct to farmers is nothing only hardship. Lads arrive on weekends or in the evening when weighbridges are closed and I knew my basket held 1 tonne. 15 scoops later and they swear that trailer never held more than 10 tonne. Then expect you to wait until they sold the cattle before they pay. And any year beet is plentiful there doing you the biggest favour removing it from your yard out of the way
 
We used to have around 10 acres of sugar beet and would pull 6 drills all round by hand and then crown it into heaps and then handball into trailer. Three separate jobs. Eventually we relented and just pulled the corners. Can't imagine finding anyone to do it now.
The flash backs are flooding back use pull the corners here too a hour a corner roughly pulled and top
 
Usually works well until we have a short winter, next thing contract growing farmer is left with a big heap of beet. I took 4 loads of a friend down near yourself as a favour a few years ago that some goon backed out of
A few contract growing maize this year down here got burned, after it fell down they backed out. I'm a bit amazed how it was not all harvested before the wind. Ours was one of the last crops planted and it was mad for before the wind. They are still harvesting maize around here that was ripe 3 weeks ago.
 
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