On Thursday 10th October, BioSS staff Tess Vernon, Samuel Connolly and Jake Rice had the opportunity to visit the herbage and potato trials at Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) near Edinburgh.

The crop variety trials team at BioSS provides a design, analysis and reporting service for various crop variety trials, including the herbage and potato trials at SASA. Hence, visiting these trials was a useful opportunity for the team to gain more background knowledge and put their work into context.

During the visit, the team was shown around the herbage field trials by Russell Thompson, the trial operator. He gave helpful insights into the different types of grass and clover being tested, as well as the whole process involved in operating herbage trials, including the specialised machinery used.

The group also explored a lab where Heather Campbell gave an introduction to some of the tests her team conduct for the VCU (Value for Cultivation and Use) potato trials. Potatoes are tested for a range of diseases and attributes, so it was useful for the team to see how this is done in practice. For example, the team observed how potato blight cultures are maintained for inoculating leaves to test for resistance, and bruising is measured by dropping a bolt through a tube onto 50 potatoes of each variety.

Thanks to Russell and Heather at SASA for accommodating this site visit.

Read more about BioSS’ work on crop variety trials.