BERTIE Timeline for a ’normal’ season

March

The ideal month for sowing sugar beet is March. If sowing is delayed until after the second week of April, potential sugar yield will be lost. After early April the yield penalty from delayed sowing gradually increases, until in May about 0.6% is lost for each day that sowing is further delayed.

In 2006 BERTIE was sown on 30^th March.

It is important that growth of BERTIE is not restricted by pest attack or by competition from weeds. To combat pests a small amount of insecticide is placed in the seed pellet or in the seed furrow.

In BERTIE’s case a total of 0.0009 g of imidacloprid insecticide was placed in the seed pellet to protect him from pests in the soil and from some of the important pests that might attack his leaves.

Weed control in sugar beet is difficult because it is closely related to some of the weeds we find in the fields (e.g. fat-hen Chenopodium album). Therefore growers use a programme of low doses of herbicides.

This year BERTIE had a pre-emergence treatment of chloridazon at 2.5 kg/ha as the first part of the weed control programme.

BERTIE’s seed pellet also had other treatments. Very low doses of fungicide (less than 0.0002 g) were used to prevent fungi such as blackleg (Aphanomyces spp) attacking the emerging seedling.

Before BERTIE’s seed was pelleted, it was put through another process to help it get a faster start. This is called Advantage™ seed priming treatment. For this treatment BERTIE’s seed is placed in a warm solution so that it starts to germinate (grow inside). The treatment is stopped well before the shoots start to appear. It can increase speed of emergence in the field by several days. This can be very important when you are a young vulnerable seedling. It also means that BERTIE will grow quickly and be able to receive as much sunlight as possible.

Fertiliser was spread onto the field in the autumn (October) in the form of (blended fertiliser based on soil analysis undertaken the previous winter) and then ploughed down. BERTIE will also need some nitrogen, but we do not put that on until just after sowing. If nitrogen is applied too early, it can be washed down through the soil by rain. By waiting until sowing we ensure that the nitrogen is there when BERTIE needs it. We traditionally split the nitrogen treatment. In BERTIE’s case he received 40 kg/ha on 30^th March. The rest (70 kg/ha) will be applied in April as soon as BERTIE and all his friends have emerged.

April

Beet will usually emerge in late March or early April, depending on sowing date and how warm and moist the weather is following drilling.

Because the weather in March was cold, BERTIE 2006 is not expected to emerge until early April. We will then post the first report on this site.

The weed control programme will continue with post-emergence treatments being applied as soon as the first flush of weeds has their cotyledons open (these are the small leaves that emerge before the main leaves).

BERTIE’s field has already had a pre-emergence herbicide applicant and BERTIE will have had his first nitrogen application.

The rest of the nitrogen BERTIE needs (70 kg/ha) will be applied in April as soon as BERTIE and all his friends have emerged.

May

BERTIE should be growing well by now!

We will continue to control weeds in the crop with herbicide applications so that the weeds can’t compete with BERTIE for water and light.

BERTIE should still be protected from pest attack, his seed treatment will still be providing adequate protection.

June

If the season is warm, at the start of the month the sugar beet plants in BERTIE’s field should be touching leaves with their neighbours in the rows (traditionally around the time of the Suffolk Show).

Later in the month BERTIE’s leaves should be touching leaves with his friends in the neighbouring rows (traditionally around the time of the Norfolk Show).

July

BERTIE should be a large plant by now and at his maximum leaf canopy – hopefully covering 85-95% of the ground.

We will be monitoring the crop now for signs of powdery mildew infection and apply a fungicide spray to protect him. This fungicide will also increase the amount of sugar he produces by around 5%, even if disease levels are very low. When powdery mildew attack is severe, yield loss can be 15-20%.

August

If the sun is out and the weather is warm, hopefully BERTIE’s large root system will be able to supply him with water from deep in the soil. August is typically a very hot and dry month and in previous years BERTIE has cracked in the heat.

September

BERTIE should be a large sugar beet plant by now and we will be planning his harvest for later in the autumn. We don’t want to harvest him just yet. He and his friends will be putting over 1 tonne/ha of sugar into their roots every 7 to 10 days.

October/November

Even though BERTIE will still be producing around 0.5 tonnes of sugar/ha every 10 days in October or 0.25 tonnes/ha in November, we will need to harvest him in this period so that we can sow a cereal crop for harvest next year. As in previous years, school pupils from a local primary school will be invited to Broom’s Barn to witness the harvest of BERTIE and help in the weighing and measuring of him.