Work done in the 1900s (SBREC) demonstrated that drilling beet on a 30x30cm grid delivered increased sugar yields of 4-5%. The challenge of precision drilling beet in an equidistant pattern and harvesting the crop effectively prevented this work from progressing. With the advent of modern genetics, modern agricultural electronics, the latest drilling equipment and the changes to lifting in front of the harvester wheels, the time is right to revisit this work.
Main Objectives
1. Revalidate the yield benefits (and root uniformity benefits) particularly in the light of the industry’s new whole beet delivery standards. 2. Open up dialogue with drill and harvester manufacturers to assess the viability of drilling and harvesting the crop
