A winning week for Scotland’s Machinery Rings

There were winners all round as the Scottish Machinery Ring Association (SMRA) celebrated another successful Royal Highland Show.

With a steady stream of visitors, one lucky farmer won a brand-new quad bike, five winners got their choice of training courses and a celebratory spotlight was shone on the rings’ long-running pre-apprenticeship programme.

Hosted by the six regional machinery rings – Borders Machinery Ring, Orkney Business Ring, Ringlink, Rural Services Scotland, Tarff Services and Tayforth Machinery Ring – it was a busy stand across the four days last week.

Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture, Marine and the Islands attended the stand on the first morning, and real-life mentors and young people who’ve taken part in the successful Land-based Pre-apprenticeship programme shared their respective stories on why the programme is so important.

Mr Fairlie said: “The pre-apprenticeship programme is something the Scottish Government is really proud to support. It reflects a very simple idea that talent is everywhere, right across Scotland, and opportunities should be everywhere as well.”

“Chuffed”

Meanwhile, popular sheep farmer and social media star Cammy Wilson announced the winner of an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) prize draw on Saturday night, after a frantic few days of ticket sales.

The winner of the CF Moto C Force quad bike package worth nearly £7,500 is James Thomson of Potterton in Aberdeenshire, who said he was “chuffed to bits”.

This year’s quad bike was supplied by Thomas Murray Agricultural Engineers and sales of the £20 tickets were brisk. With additional donations still being counted, the draw has raised thousands of pounds for the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs’ (SAYFC) Big Build campaign to create a new permanent home for the organisation at Ingliston.

Visitors to the stand also had the chance to win £200 of training courses at the ring of their choice.

The lucky winners were announced by each participating ring, with Niall Jeffrey taking the Borders prize, Adrian Keir at Ringlink, Joanne Cameron at Rural Services, Graham Booton at Tarff and John Buchanan at Tayforth.

A perennial favourite on the stand is the simulator, with hot competition to make the “lift and shift” magnetic leaderboard as participants tested their skills and climbed the simulator leaderboard. Younger visitors took part in the CASE IH colouring competition, with dozens of entries creating an attractive display.

SMRA Vice-chairman Andrew Moir said: “It’s vital for us to be at the Royal Highland Show and promote all the benefits that working with the machinery rings offers. We are at the heart of the agricultural community and it’s also great for our members to have somewhere to meet and talk to their ring managers.

“However it’s also vital that we speak to government, and having the minister at our event, and hearing what some of the mentors and pre-apprentices have gained from the experience – all with such absolute eloquence – was so important.

“We’d like to thank everyone who attended the event, as well as those who dropped by during the four days of the show. We’re sure they enjoyed the fresh strawberries and tomatoes provided by East Scryne and Standhill farms respectively, as well as the delicious event lunch from Lantra Scotland.”