Vic Robertson was a highly respected ‘old school’ journalist who always delivered his copy on time to his employers.

His words were accurate and, unless he was writing an opinion piece where he could skewer his target, he always wrote articles that were balanced and fair. He was perfectly described as a journalist with pride in his work.

Some of his best work came when he was farming editor for The Scotsman at a time when European Union common agricultural policies were at their most convoluted.

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While colleagues on the press bench would scratch their heads in despair Vic, with a cigarette to hand, would furiously type away. He could, a colleague noted, “separate the wheat from the chaff.”

Making these attributes all the more remarkable, was the fact he did not come from an agricultural background. He became one of the most respected journalists of his generation in reporting farming matters.

He was born in 1945 and brought up in Aberdeen and after attending Aberdeen Grammar School and then Robert Gordon’s College he studied pharmacy in order to become a chemist.

He started work in the laboratory at the Rowett Research Institute but the journalistic bug then bit him, and he joined a regional paper in the South West of Scotland.

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After a couple of years in this part of the world, he successfully applied for a post on the farming desk at the Press and Journal in Aberdeen. Once there, he continued his apprenticeship in the farming world by reporting on bull sales and agricultural shows.

It was during this spell of his life that he met Judy. They married in 1968 and moved South where Vic became the England NFU press person, and thereafter public relations for a major food company. Although he was well equipped for the PR roles, he took the road back north when the post of agricultural editor of the Scotsman in Edinburgh came up.

Prior to this he separated and later divorced, becoming a single parent to his son Martin, now an associate professor at Edinburgh Napier University.

In 1981, while at The Scotsman, he met Gloria Cox. Their relationship grew and she became his partner for the rest of his life.

After more than a decade at the Scotsman’s farm news desk, Vic was then tempted into the world of PR with the Meat and Livestock Commission in Milton Keynes, in its role of promoting red meat produced in the UK.

Thereafter, he worked as a freelance journalist until his retirement in 2010.

Confirming the high regard in which he was held in the profession, Vic was elected chairman of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists in 1996.

He did not have many outside interests although he was a lifelong jazz aficionado and an enthusiastic trumpet player.

Living in Oxfordshire, when Vic became ill he was taken to the John Radcliffe hospital where he spent over six weeks.

He was discharged to a Witney care home for a short period of respite care, but had to be readmitted to the John Radcliffe after only two days.

He died six days later on May 8, aged 77. Vic’s funeral took place on June 8 at Oxford crematorium where he arrived in a Triumph Bonneville motorbike hearse, and jazz favourites by Miles Davis, Maynard Ferguson and Duke Ellington were played at a humanist ceremony.

Some family, friends and colleagues, including many from Scotland, who could not attend, also watched via a webcast.

He leaves a partner Gloria in Oxford, son Martin and older brother Alastair.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF