Crops · Sugar beet
Sugar beet weed control in the row with AI
Machines with AROW inside hoe between the beets from the two-leaf stage at up to 5 km/h. With six rows that is about one hectare per hour, without herbicides and without a hand crew.
As of: season 2026Last reviewed
Can AI weed sugar beet inside the row?
Yes, from the two-leaf stage. The AROW box above each row finds the root point of every beet and opens and closes the blades around it, about three times per second, so the soil between the beets is worked and the beet itself is left alone.
| Figure | Value in sugar beet |
|---|---|
| Start of weeding | From the two-leaf stage |
| Working speed | Up to 5 km/h in the row |
| Area per hour | About 1 ha with a 6-row machine |
| Row spacing | From 23 cm (typical beet rows of 45–50 cm are no problem) |
| Machine width | Frames with up to 12 rows on the market; AROW supports 1–16 |
| Light | Own flash illumination, day and night |
| Field hours 2026 | 797 h in the first five months (third crop by hours) |
How does in-row hoeing in sugar beet work?
The camera looks for the point where the beet enters the soil, not for the leaf. That is why wind, overlapping leaves and weeds growing close to the beet do not confuse it.
- See
One 2D camera and two 3D cameras per row take flash-lit images of the row.
- Decide
The AI module in the box finds the root point of each beet and decides where the blades must open, in about 15 milliseconds.
- Hoe
The blades close between the beets and open around each plant. The manufacturer's inter-row tools clean the soil between the rows in the same pass.
How much hand weeding does it replace?
Hand hoeing organic sugar beet takes about 163 to 180 hours per hectare, or roughly €2,200 to €3,400 per hectare. One six-row machine with AROW does the work of up to 60 hand workers; across all crops the fleet removed 78–97 % of hand-weeding hours in 2026.
| Hand hoeing | Machine with AROW (6 rows) | |
|---|---|---|
| Time per hectare | 163–180 h | about 1 h tractor time |
| People for the same output | up to 60 | one tractor driver |
| When it can start | when a crew is available | from the two-leaf stage, day or night |
| Herbicides in the row | none | none |
Hand-hoeing figures: organic sugar beet in Germany (~163 h/ha) and Ullmanna's own reference (180 h/ha × €15). Your figures depend on weed pressure, labour cost and the number of passes. Field data 2026 in detail
FiBL · 2025
How well does it control weeds? An independent test
In an independent test by FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) in July 2025, the Ullmanna in-row hoe reached 73 % weed control in the row at final plant spacing. How much a pass removes depends on the weed stage and weed pressure. Most farms combine the in-row pass with inter-row hoeing.
Which machines are available for sugar beet?
Several manufacturers build AROW into sugar beet frames of up to twelve rows. Ullmanna does not sell machines itself; we put you in touch with the manufacturer and dealer for your region.
Sugar beet: questions farmers ask
01From which stage can sugar beet be hoed in the row with AI?
From the two-leaf stage. AROW detects the root point rather than the leaf, so even small beets are found reliably, at the stage when hand crews are hardest to find.
02How fast does an AI in-row hoe work in sugar beet?
Up to 5 km/h in the row. With six rows that is about one hectare per hour; wider frames cover proportionally more.
03Which row spacing does it need?
From 23 cm. Standard sugar beet rows of 45 or 50 cm are no problem.
04Does it work at night?
Yes. Every AROW box has four flash LEDs, so the image is the same at 6 am and at 10 pm.
05Is it only for organic sugar beet?
No. Organic farms replace hand hoeing with it; conventional farms use it to cut or replace herbicide passes in the row.
06What does the independent test say?
FiBL measured 73 % weed control in the row at final plant spacing in July 2025.