I can't make out a problem in your picture. But chopping off the stems of seedlings at or just below ground level is the work of cutworms.

The stalk and leaves is separated. Sorry if it's hard to make out. There's a pebble making t hard to see

In that case it practically conforms daninthedirt's cutworms.

Ugh. How can I stop the jerks. Here's a closeup.

That is damp-off, a fungus disease that attacks young seedlings (primarily) and is common in soil that is overly wet.

Dave

I've never seen damping off break off a leaf, and the remaining stem shows no browning or shrinkage. Kinda hard to see, but there may be some sign of incipient damping off on the lower stem.

Wait, are we talking about the broken-off leaf, or are we talking about the slightly browning stem? The only thing I can see "trimmed" is a leaf.

Sorry for the bad pic everyone. Maybe this helps. There's actually almost no brown there. That's just a piece of the soil in the background. The piece Im holding is actually completely separated.

I was talking about the stem not the leaf. The stem looks to have the color and the brown fungal drainage of damp off fungus.

Oh yeah. If the stem is clipped off, and it's brown and bruised looking, that's damping off. There is that funny brown wrinkled thing in the picture that is obscuring what you're saying is the stem being clipped off.

Ugh I miss sorry for poopy pic. Got another today. Hopefully more clear!

Ah, I thought the brown crinkly thing was in front of the stem. It was behind it, and the stem was separated. Yes, that's damping off. It's a soil-borne fungus that attacks seedlings. Easy to avoid when starting seeds indoors, by using sterilized soil. Harder outside. Once the seedlings have germinated, let the soil surface dry out, and keep it dry as much as you can. They call it damping off because things are too damp. Your soil looks pretty moist.

Generally my "damping off" experiences don't result as a broken/separated stem but rather a stem that's still attached which is shrunken/collapsed. Note too that another leaf above the break is also missing as though cut through as via what a cutworm would do. Both separations are fairly similar clean "cuts" rather than a just rotting appearance as with damping off.

I'm also a little sceptical that it's damping off. I've never seen it with such large seedlings. And I agree on the appearance not being consistent.

The serious browning around the break isn't the result of a cutworm. Looks very different from where the leaf was detached at upper right. That the stem broke off is what happens when the shrunken, and eventually dried out stem is handled.

Sorry for the late reply everyone. Thanks for your info. Dan...keep in mind these pics are about 2 days after initial cut. Maybe brown developed further after initial cutworm cut? Will dipel dust work on these things if tnis cutworm?

Yes, dipel will prevent cutworms, if the problem is really cutworms. I'm not convinced that it is. I think I used that in my fist crop of beets, but more recently I find that diatomaceous earth works pretty well too. Of course, for larger plants, you can just install collars to repel cutworms, but for beets, you need some pesticide.

"...keep in mind these pics are about 2 days after initial cut. Maybe brown developed further after initial cutworm cut?"

It's the "cut" that rules out damping off for me, and seeing the 2 day old top still fresh looking and not rotting away as DO should have infected it. Daniel sometimes you can find the cutworm hiding just below the surface of the soil. Using a fork to stir up the top 1/2" or so around the plant can sometimes expose the culprit. Being a brownish color the cutworm can blend in well.

Starting seeds with a piece of toilet paper tube around the seed can prevent cutworm damage. They don't like to crawl over the cardboard.