The beet goes on-line


1 August 2001



The beet goes on-line

By FWi staff

FROM humble beginnings on a research centres Internet information bulletin, Bertie the sugar beet has become an online celebrity with its own website.

A webcam has been trained on Bertie — an acronym for Beet Report for Interested Enthusiasts — since it was it was planted in April.

It was intended that Bertie, which receives dozens of emails each day, would feature in a weekly bulletin by IACR-Brooms Barn, at Higham, Suffolk.

But the beet became so popular when it featured on the Brooms Barn website that a separate site was set up for visitors to follow its progress.

National newspaper coverage in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Mirrordoes not seem to have fazed Bertie.

On its site on Tuesday (01 August) the celebrity beet is pictured with hat and sunglasses reading the papers.

However, Berties celebrity will come to a sudden end when it is harvested in October, and that too will be captured on camera.

FREE NEWS UPDATE


CLICK HERE to receive FWis FREE new daily email newsletter to keep up-to-date with the latest news of foot-and-mouth and other farming-related stories

See more