- Loam
- Sandy clay loam
- Coarse-textured sandy soil
Using GIS Technology To Grow Bigger Sugar Beets

The clattering farm tractors of yesteryear were uncomplicated machines equipped with That’s all you only a few accessories, all of which could be easily maintained and repaired by the farm families fortunate enough to own them. By contrast, today’s mechanical descendants, rumbling across Nebraska’s sugar beet fields, are often bristling with cabmounted Navstar receivers, digital […]
The clattering farm tractors of yesteryear were uncomplicated machines equipped with That’s all you only a few accessories, all of which could be easily maintained and repaired by the farm families fortunate enough to own them. By contrast, today’s mechanical descendants, rumbling across Nebraska’s sugar beet fields, are often bristling with cabmounted Navstar receivers, digital computers, full-color video displays, and electronic database memories programmed with custom-tailored Geographic Information Systems.
The sugar beet is a delicate plant requiring protection during the early phases of its lifecycle. Consequently, fast-growing cover crops – oats, barely, rye – are commonly seeded throughout the same field just prior to the planting of the sugar beet seeds. Then, when the sugar beets are being planted, a narrow stream of plant-selective herbicide is laid down with the beet seeds to destroy nearby weeds while allowing the protective cover crop to grow between the rows.
The local soil type and its organic content are of crucial importance in determining the optimum quantities of herbicide to apply. Too much herbicide damages the delicate sugar beets, too little allows weeds to grow and choke them within their rows.
Three different soil types are commonly found in close proximity in western Nebraska: