The late Ben Burgess—founder of the £180m turnover agricultural, construction and groundcare machinery dealership which bears his name—could be described as a man ahead of his time.

He was an inventor as well as a businessman and in the 1970s, he came up with a device called a Damping Worm Machine—a prototype of which still sits in the Ben Burgess yard in Norwich.

Ben Burgess, founder, right, and Urban Curzon, left, director and head of the grain department, during a visit by Prince Philip in 1988. (Image: Denise Bradley)

It gently moistens grain to bring it to the correct moisture level.

Ben senior knew that farmers needed their grain to be bendy rather than brittle.

Cereals should be dry enough to store without spoiling, but moist enough not to disintegrate or turn to dust.

The optimal level is just below 15% moisture.

If it reaches a point higher than that, then it has to be dried—which is costly. The same is true of the reverse.

The BB damping worm machine, designed to aid with dry crops harvested. (Image: Denise Bradley)

Successive heatwaves in recent years have meant farmers are harvesting their cereal crops at well below this level.

This has a significant impact on their........

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