Editing Sugar beet (section)

== Agriculture ==
[[File:Dammanbau Zuckerruebe.svg|thumb|Sugar beet farming using dam culture method. Used in Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine, Turkey, China, Poland, and sometimes Egypt.]]

Sugar beets are an important part of a [[crop rotation]] cycle.

Sugar beet plants are susceptible to ''[[Beet necrotic yellow vein virus|Rhizomania]]'' ("root madness"), which turns the bulbous tap root into many small roots, making the crop economically unprocessable. Strict controls are enforced in European countries to prevent the spread, but it is already present in some areas. It is also susceptible to both the [[beet leaf curl virus]], which causes crinkling and stunting of the leaves and [[beet yellows virus]].

Continual research looks for varieties with resistance, as well as increased sugar yield. Sugar beet breeding research in the United States is most prominently conducted at various [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] Agricultural Research Stations, including one in [[Fort Collins, Colorado]], headed by Linda Hanson and Leonard Panella; one in [[Fargo, North Dakota]], headed by John Wieland; and one at [[Michigan State University]] in [[East Lansing, Michigan]], headed by Rachel Naegele.

Other economically important members of the subfamily [[Chenopodioideae]]:
* [[Beetroot]]
* [[Chard]]
* ''[[Mangelwurzel]]'' or fodder beet

===Genetic modification===
{{Main|Genetically modified sugar beet}}
In the United States, genetically modified sugar beets, engineered for resistance to [[glyphosate]], a [[herbicide]] marketed as Roundup, were developed by [[Monsanto]] as a [[genetically modified crop]]. In 2005, the US Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ([[USDA]]-[[APHIS]]) deregulated glyphosate-resistant sugar beets after it conducted an environmental assessment and determined glyphosate-resistant sugar beets were highly unlikely to become a plant pest.<ref name="Roundup Ready Sugarbeets"/><ref name=APHIS-history/> Sugar from glyphosate-resistant sugar beets has been approved for human and animal consumption in multiple countries, but commercial production of biotech beets has been approved only in the United States and Canada. Studies have concluded the sugar from glyphosate-resistant sugar beets has the same nutritional value as sugar from conventional sugar beets.<ref name=AppealDecision2011 /> After deregulation in 2005, glyphosate-resistant sugar beets were extensively adopted in the United States. About 95% of sugar beet acres in the US were planted with glyphosate-resistant seed in 2011.<ref name=James2011/>

Weeds may be chemically controlled using [[glyphosate]] without harming the crop. After planting sugar beet seed, weeds emerge in fields and growers apply glyphosate to control them. Glyphosate is commonly used in field crops because it controls a broad spectrum of weed species<ref name=michsug/> and has a low [[toxicity]].<ref name=usda3/> A study from the UK<ref name=nih/> suggests yields of genetically modified beet were greater than conventional, while another from the North Dakota State University extension service found lower yields.<ref name=nlpw/> The introduction of glyphosate-resistant sugar beets may contribute to the growing number of glyphosate-resistant weeds, so Monsanto has developed a program to encourage growers to use different herbicide modes of action to control their weeds.<ref name="New Releases"/>

In 2008, the [[Center for Food Safety]], the [[Sierra Club]], the Organic Seed Alliance and High Mowing Seeds filed a lawsuit against USDA-APHIS regarding their decision to deregulate glyphosate-resistant sugar beets in 2005. The organizations expressed concerns regarding glyphosate-resistant sugar beets' ability to potentially [[cross-pollinate]] with conventional sugar beets.<ref name="Roundup Ready Sugar Beet Case: Timeline"/> U.S. District Judge [[Jeffrey White|Jeffrey S. White]], [[United States District Court for the Northern District of California|US District Court for the Northern District of California]], revoked the deregulation of glyphosate-resistant sugar beets and declared it unlawful for growers to plant glyphosate-resistant sugar beets in the spring of 2011.<ref name="Roundup Ready Sugar Beet Case: Timeline"/><ref name=usda5/> Believing a sugar shortage would occur USDA-APHIS developed three options in the environmental assessment to address the concerns of environmentalists.<ref name="USDA Prepares Draft Environmental Assessment on Regulatory Options for Roundup Ready Sugar Beets"/> In 2011, a federal appeals court for the Northern district of California in San Francisco overturned the ruling.<ref name=AppealDecision2011/> In July 2012, after completing an environmental impact assessment and a plant pest risk assessment the USDA deregulated Monsanto's Roundup Ready sugar beets.<ref name=usda6/>

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