The renowned Potato Council Technical Winter Forums will take place in two locations this year, with the first being held at Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research (SBCSR) on January 25.

"We have received feedback from levy-payers that they would like these technical forums to be held in different areas of the country," says Potato Council head of communications Dr Sharon Hall. "The forums are in essence very similar, but some of the speakers and topics will be different."

Well-known industry specialists such as Eric Anderson from Scottish Agronomy, Pat Haydock of Harper Adams University College, Marc Allison of Cambridge University Farm (CUF) and Nigel Simpson of Catchment Sensitive Farming will all be holding seminars on their areas of expertise, including the costs of cultivation, potato cyst nematode control (PCN) and nematicide incorporation, canopy management.

Following the popular format, the afternoon agenda will consist of interactive workshops with Ruairidh Bain of Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) on blight, Martyn Silgram of ADAS on green manures, and Mark Stalham (CUF) on destoner depth. In addition Phil Burgess of The Cooperative Farms (CWS) will be talking through what was learned about green manures in the study tour undertaken by Potato Council in 2010.

"There will be informal breakout sessions so delegates can ask questions concerning their specific concerns, so everyone can make the most of their day," explains Dr Hall.

The Western Technical Winter Forum will take place on February 16 at Harper Adams University College.

For further information go to: www.potato.org.uk/events or contact Miya Kotecha on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it