SCOTLAND’S SEED potato inspectors have completed their annual two-week training course in the recognition of varieties, genetic variants and diseases from potato foliage characteristics.

The course, organised by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture at Gogarbank, ended with the award of two trophies to particularly oustanding inspectors.
The Lang Trophy is a memorial to John and James Lang, seed growers in Newport-on-Tay, who were tragically killed in a road accident in 1979. John attained the highest mark in the inspectors’ course that year and worked effectively in Highland area.
This trophy was presented to the inspector assessed as the top scoring newcomer this year, Alistair Brown, of West Adamston, Muirhead, by Dundee.
The new David Y Stewart Trophy was donated by David Stewart, of Robertsons of Perth, seed and ware growers, in memory of his father. David Y Stewart was responsible for preparing Robertsons’ crops for inspection and was a strong supporter of the classification scheme. This trophy, presented to the inspector who has been assessed as the best returning inspector, was awarded this year to James Small, of Kirriemuir, Angus.