Farmer members of the Ringlink Scotland co-operative are playing host to the latest batch of 12 agricultural trainees from Scotland’s Rural College, SRUC.
The young interns have just completed their initial three-week course at SRUC’s Craibstone campus and have visited a wide range of businesses including Angus Cereals, Boort Malt, Mackies, East Coast Viners and McIntosh Donald to discover the range of opportunities that exist in the sector.
They are now on farms, getting a hands-on introduction to practical agricultural work.
Ringlink Services Ltd training manager, Peter Wood, said the co-op was pleased with the way the internship had developed over the last four years.
“This year the scheme has attracted interest from Perth in the south to the Black Isle in the north. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with a group of enthusiastic, courteous and good humoured students and we are fortunate that these young people have chosen to pursue a career within the rural sector,” he said.
Ringlink was established in 1988 to help Angus farmers share expensive machinery and has grown to become the UK’s largest machinery ring, with 2700 members across north east Scotland. Farming is at the core of the business but it has diversified into haulage, construction and forestry.
SRUC course co-ordinator Phillip Wrigglesworth said the students learned basic farm skills like tractor driving and forklift operation as well as completing certified courses on health and safety, first aid and manual handling.
“A new addition this year has been an introduction to tractor driving on the road which prepares the students for their imminent tractor driving tests,” he said.
