07:58 Wednesday 15th May 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
(MUSIC: PINK PANTHER THEME)
PAUL STAINTON: Right now ladies and gentlemen, we have a mystery. The Bigger Breakfast Show Mystery. Cambridgeshire’s sugar beet crop has been affected by a mysterious problem, which prevents up to 50% of seeds from growing. Fields affected have very low plant populations, and those plants which do grow have very little root growth. And no-one knows why. John Goodchild is the farm manager at Cambridgeshire’s Bartlow Estate, and a member of the NFU Sugar Board. Morning John.
JOHN GOODCHILD: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: What’s going on here?
JOHN GOODCHILD: Well, the crux of the matter is we don’t really know. As I say, significant numbers of seeds that have been sowed have failed to make it above the ground.
PAUL STAINTON: Is this the first time it’s ever happened? Continue reading “Sugar Beet Issues Of Emergence And Vigour In The East Of England”