Students and apprentices at one of the UK’s leading land-based colleges now have permanent access to a fleet of modern Valtra tractors for training, thanks to a strategic partnership agreement with the local AGCO dealer.
Plumpton College Year 1, T level students with the three new Valtra tractors supplied for operator and maintenance training by Crawfords. The college Farm Manager, Rodney Phair is on the left, and Machinery Lecturer, Clive Brickell is on the right.
Plumpton College, in East Sussex, provides land-based and environmental training to 5,000 students annually. The college incorporates a 780ha mixed livestock and arable farm, and a successful vineyard. Since May this year, an initial three-year agreement between Crawfords Group and the college means that three new N and G Series tractors are always on-site and available for training. One has Valtra’s SmartTouch Extend GPS guidance system which will be transferred to new tractors as the fleet is updated twice each year.
The college farm also owns a T175, purchased last year. “It’s reliable, comfortable and easy to use,” said Farm Manager, Rodney Phair. “I work closely with the students and having these Valtra training tractors has enabled the students the opportunity to work on the farm using our equipment, which aids farm productivity and student learning.”
Machinery Lecturer, Clive Brickell (left) with Farm Manager, Rodney Phair. Rodney says that providing access to the modern, capable Valtra tractors means that students can carry out farm tasks using modern implements, while learning at the same time.
Machinery Lecturer, Clive Brickell says the Valtras are just what students need, as future employers will expect familiarity with the latest technology. “We are extremely grateful to Crawfords and especially James Parrett and James Strivens - a former student, who were instrumental in setting up this partnership. “For any college it would be extremely hard to afford an equivalent tractor fleet, but with Crawfords we can offer students the latest models available.”
Machinery Lecturer, Clive Brickell supervises Year 1 students negotiating an obstacle course on one of the three new Valtras supplied by Crawfords.
