Larking about in beet trials
Larking about in beet trials
SKYLARKS are making it increasingly hard to find sugar beet trial sites, giving the lie to the belief that modern farming is largely to blame for the birds decline, says British Sugar.
"We are getting many more reports than usual of skylark damage in East Anglian sugar beet fields," says the firms Simon Fisher, who blames the dry spell.
"They have been nipping out the cotyledons looking for moisture and nutrients. It is always more of a problem in dry seasons."
The damage in commercial fields is unlikely to be significant, says Mr Fisher.
"They might perhaps go down a row and take out 10m, but then they are full up."
However in relatively small trial plots the absence of that number of plants could render the results meaningless, he explains. "It shows we are doing our bit for the environment."
• IACR-Brooms Barn says the birds seldom remove growing points but do set growth back. *