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Influence of Snow Fence and Corn Windbreaks on Microclimate and Growth of Irrigated Sugar Beets¹

During the 1964 growing season, irrigated sugar beets were sheltered against wind at the Scotts Bluff Experiment Station, University of Nebraska, by snow fence erected at planting time and by double rows of corn planted as early in the season as possible.

Germination was improved in areas protected by snow fence, although the effect was not uniform throughout the sheltered area. Both types of shelter increased root and total weight of beets over that in an unsheltered site. Top weight was not affected. Root/top ratio was greatest in corn-sheltered beets. Sugar content at harvest was depressed in beets grown in the snow fence sheltered areas. Press juice samples of corn-sheltered beets showed greatest purity.

Air temperature above the sheltered beets was higher by day and lower by night than in the open site. Absolute humidity content of air above the beets was not influenced by shelter.

The snow fence shelter altered the wind profile, raising the zero plane to within the top quarter of the sheltered beet canopy. Wind shear in that plot suggested a reduction in turbulent exchange. In the corn-sheltered plot, wind profiles were similar to those in the open with a moderate reduction of wind speed at the two levels above the canopy at which measurements were made. An intensification of temperature lapse rate in the corn shelter may have increased rate and extent of turbulent exchange processes.

² Associate Professor of Agricultural Climatology, Department of Horticulture and Forestry.

Received for publication January 26, 1966.