A Norfolk farmer has lifted his club's trophy for harvesting the biggest sugar beet of the year.

Stoke Ferry Agricultural Society's annual competition was won by a 6.21kg specimen grown by Jim Smart, from Marshland St James, ahead of Ed Lankfer in second place with 5.20kg and David Eyles in third with 5.14kg.

The competition entries were smaller than in previous years, following a drought-hit growing season - one of the challenges illustrated by the meeting's guest speaker.

Simon Bowen, head of knowledge exchange at the Norwich-based British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO), spoke about the work under way to improve the resilience of sugar beet crops to droughts, pests and diseases.

Society chairman Robert Smart said it was a "very informative evening".

"The BBRO are now working to address the recurring issues of drought, with variety trials and seedling vigour at the centre of their work," he said.

"We were shown the severity of the 2022 beet moth outbreak, and the current state of Virus yellows in the UK crop."