Isuzu gives Farmer’s Apprentices a helping hand

Birmingham – 10th October 2018 – Award-winning pick-up truck manufacturer Isuzu is backing the next generation of farmers by supplying D-Max vehicles for the Farmers Apprentice TV show, which has just launched on Farmers Weekly’s YouTube channel.

The show, which runs every two years, pits ten young agricultural hopefuls – drawn from an initial entry of 250 – against each other in a week-long series of challenges at the Farmers Apprentice Bootcamp, held at Harper Adams University in Shropshire.

The apprentices had to draw on their experiences and skills to handle a string of practical and technical tests, which would be required for a successful agricultural career.

Four of the team were given the status of designated drivers, who had to earn their trailer licence, using Isuzu’s D-Max trucks for practice.

The vehicles were featured in several tasks as they are built with farmers in mind and boast a range of features to make the job easier. These included the job of hitching a 3.5 tonne trailer onto a D-Max and towbar before manoeuvering them both around an obstacle course, under the watchful eye of Isuzu’s professional driver Jason Sharpe.

The apprentices also had to take part in a daily ‘diary cam’, with the diary room, complete with dashboard camera, being the interior of the D-Max in a rural location on-site.

In addition, the losing team on each daily task had to pay a forfeit, including having to wash and clean the D-Max truck at the end of the challenge.

George Wallis, Marketing Manager at Isuzu UK, said, “We are delighted to have been asked to supply some of our D-Max vehicles for the 2018 series of The Farmers Apprentice, which nurtures young agricultural talent while involving a number of UK businesses in the industry.

“The show is a natural fit for Isuzu and our D-Max as it is built with the farmer in mind, offering a 3.5 tonne towing capability, a maximum payload of 1,126kg and four-wheel drive. Basically, it just works.”

A spokesman for Farmers Weekly, added, “Farmers Apprentice is our response to the challenge of recruiting the best business minds into UK agriculture, by providing a platform from which young people from all walks of life can get a foot onto the farming ladder.”

The Farmers Apprentice show is available on the Farmers Weekly YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/FarmersWeeklyVideo