BERTIE 2001
	BERTIE was drilled on 30 April 2001. Like most sugar beet growers this season, we have had to be patient and wait until soil conditions were suitable for drilling. Fortunately, we had a short spell without rain and we were able to drill beet in this sandy loam field. Nearly half of the UK sugar beet is grown on these light soils. This has an advantage at harvest time, in that soil does not stick so readily to the roots, and, therefore, it is easier to minimise the amount of soil transported to the factory on the beet.

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		29 August 2001 : (1547 day degrees since sowing)
	Click for larger image	BERTIE's still a healthy green colour but look at the plant beyond him! The yellow on its leaves is due to infection by virus yellows, so BERTIE is lucky to remain uninfected. The fungicide mentioned below is doing its job - there are unsprayed plants in the field (in control plots on fungicide trials) and these are badly infected with powdery mildew. The caterpillar has now gone elsewhere, to feed on another plant perhaps or to pupate, but he has left big holes in a couple of leaves. The only insect we could find on BERTIE today was a small harmless leafhopper.
		23 August 2001 : (1444 day degrees since sowing)
	The plot next to BERTIE is due to be harvested next week which is worrying BERTIE. He had to witness the sugar beet between himself and the plot being cleared this week. To put his mind at rest after watching his near neighbours being removed, we have surrounded him with posts. This should ensure that everyone will be able to spot BERTIE, even the driver of the beet harvester!		Click for larger image
		20 August 2001 : (1396 day degrees since sowing)
	Click for larger image	BERTIE has a new visitor, a green caterpillar. They can be locally abundant, particularly in late summer, but damage is usually only cosmetic. Therefore, no control measures are required. BERTIE may get his leaves nibbled again!
		14 August 2001 : (1278 day degrees since sowing)
	BERTIE has had fungicide (carbendazim + flusilazole) applied at a rate 0.625 l/ha on 11-08-01. Powdery mildew appears as a grey mould on the crop in July-October, starting first on the outer leaves; it occurs most commonly in East Anglia.		Click for larger image
		6 August 2001 : (1185 day degrees since sowing)
	Click for larger image	The recent warm, wet weather here at Broom's Barn has provided ideal growing conditions for BERTIE.
		1 August 2001 :
	Parveen Sodhi from Anglia TV News interviews BERTIE. The report was part of the evening news that day. Is there no limit to the coverage that he will get? Thankfully for us BERTIE says that the fame will not change him and he has no plans to do anything other than continue to convert the solar energy he intercepts through his leaves into sugar in his root. Alan Dewar (Head of entomology at Broom's Barn) was interviewed on ABC 720 Radio Perth (Western Australia).		Click for larger image
	Click for larger image	We have caught BERTIE relaxing in the sunshine reading the papers! Following interviews on Radio Suffolk, he was featured in the East Anglian Daily Times (31-07-01), The Times, Telegraph and Mirror (01-08-01).

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