PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - EN Khaembah AU - WR Nelson TI - Transplanting as a means to enhance crop security of fodder beet AID - 10.1101/056408 DP - 2016 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 056408 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/06/19/056408.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/06/19/056408.full AB - Fodder beet has become a popular winter feed for all stock classes in New Zealand. However, poor crop establishment frequently leads to either significant loss in yield, through below-target plant populations, weed competition, or crop failure. This study demonstrates that establishing the crop from transplants, common in the vegetable industry, is one way to achieve a uniform plant population and reduce weed competition through early establishment of canopy cover. The most significant effect of transplant establishment is that the target plant population is readily achieved.