New Holland Apprentice Achieves Ploughing Success
08/03/06

Apprentice engineer, Andrew Mitchell is making quite a name for himself in the highly competitive world of ploughing matches. The 17 year old, who works for New Holland dealers Agricar at their Forfar branch, won his class at the Scottish Ploughing match back in October at Hawick.

Bought up on his father's farm, Andrew has always been a keen ploughman and has achieved his aim of winning the National title. Using a traditional two-furrow conventional plough pulled by a Ford 5030, Andrew was able to triumph over some strong opposition. “I have been ploughing in competitions for just over three years and winning the national championship was a great thrill. It means I now go forward to the world championships held in the Republic of Ireland this year.”

Having left school last summer, Andrew started a New Holland apprenticeship with Agricar. This means travelling down to Reaseheath College in Cheshire for three four-week block release periods a year. “It’s a great way of learning as it allows you to concentrate on your studies without any distractions,” said Andrew.

The apprenticeship lasts for three years and has been specially designed by New Holland to ensure top quality training for apprentices from dealerships throughout the UK. In addition to the technical expertise gained, the structured training regime creates a more defined career path for the staff at their dealerships.

Derek Johnston of Agricar said, “We are very proud of Andrew doing so well in the ploughing world and it is precisely this sort of person that we want to attract to the apprenticeship scheme. At the age of 17 Andrew already has the ability and confidence to compete in national ploughing championships and the apprenticeship scheme will help him become a highly skilled engineer able to solve problems on the most advanced and hi-tech machinery available.”

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