Holly Hybrids, Spreckels and SESVanderhave strive to provide the best possible sugarbeet seed varieties for our growing regions.

Pest & Diseases

The following PDF booklet may be opened and printed. This booklet provides an overview of different insects and diseases that are often diagnosed in the production of sugarbeets. This booklet is 870 Kb and may take several minutes to download on slower internet connections.

You may also view the following disease pages:

Aphanomyces

Aphanomyces or black root rot disease is caused by the fungi aphanomyces cochlioides. Root disease caused by Aphanomyces can occur as two distinct forms in sugar beets: acute seedling blight or chronic root rot.  More Info...

Bolting Resistance

Sugarbeets are biennial and to flower must be photo-thermally induced. They first require exposure to temperatures around 40° to 42° F, followed by exposure to increasing day length (12 hours or more). Varieties vary in their sensitivity to bolting so there is no fixed amount of exposure required by all varieties.  More Info...

Cercospora

Cercospora leafspot, caused by the fungus Cercospora beticola, is the most serious disease of sugarbeets in eastern North Dakota and Minnesota. This disease can cause reduced tonnage and sucrose and increased impurities.  More Info...

Curly Top

Curly Top is a virus disease caused by Beet Curly Top Virus (BCTV). BCTV has a vector that moves it from plant to plant. The beet leafhopper is the vector for BCTV in North America. Today, BCTV occurs throughout the western United States, including the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, Texas panhandle, south-western Canada and in Mexico.  More Info...

Erwinia

Although bacterial disease on sugar beet is common, most of the bacteria cause little damage. The exception to the rule is the destructive bacteria Erwinia carotovora or soft rot. Several strains of the bacterium cause this damage. They enter the plant through an injury and invade the vascular vessels of the root and the petioles. Erwinia soft rot can cause serious damage.  More Info...

Fusarium

Fusarium Yellows (also called Fusarium Wilt) is a soil-borne disease caused by a fungus called fusarium oxysporum. Most frequently, the fungus occurs as a form that is not pathogenic to plants. This common form of the fungus lives on the surface of plant roots, but does not cause harm. But with fusarium oxysporum the situation can be different.  More Info...

Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease. The causal fungus is called Erysiphe polygoni. It is related to the fungi that cause powdery mildews on grain and other crops. Powdery mildew is a foliar disease with an exponential rate of increase.  More Info...

Rhizoctonia

Rhizoctonia root rot is caused by the fungus rhizoctonia solani. This is the most common root disease of sugarbeet, occurring in most beet growing areas in the U.S. as well as throughout the world. The fungus survives in the soil as sclerotia from which mycelium grows attacking the root and causing a progressive rot leading to complete destruction of the plant.  More Info...

Rhizomania

Rhizomania is one of the most serious diseases encountered by sugar beet growers around the world. Also known as ‘crazy root’, this disease is now present in most sugar beet production zones across the United States. The disease is so infectious that even a few grams of infected soil can eventually spread to infect entire fields.  More Info...