On this week’s Young Stock Podcast, we caught up with Andrew Shorten, precision ag specialist with Vantage Ireland.

Hailing from a dairy farming background in Newcestown, west Cork, where all machinery tasks including the cutting of silage was done in house, Andrew soon developed a passion for machinery which went on to influence his studies and later his career.

Andrew chats about his time spent studying agricultural mechanisation before serving his time as an agricultural mechanic with McCarthy Plant and Agri Sales, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, to then becoming tractor technical specialist for Claas UK.

Andrew also delves into his time spent working with the Claas brand abroad in Australia where he was tasked with the challenge of setting up machinery on a large scale farm under new ownership, working with the Landpower Group, the Claas, Amazone and Grimme importer for Australia and New Zealand, where he served as regional technical manager for western Australia.

Concluding his travels, Andrew talks about making the decision to move back home after four years.

Passionate about precision ag and the role of technology in agriculture going forward, Andrew discusses his current role within Vantage Ireland and where he feels we are headed as an industry here in Ireland when it comes to ag tech and the endless amount of career opportunities the sector can offer.

Vantage Ireland

Vantage Ireland is a company within the Grasstec Group and national distributor of Trimble Guidance Systems in the agricultural sector.

Alongside the Trimble equipment range, Vantage offer numerous other precision farming solutions, including combine harvester yield monitors, precision slurry spreading technologies as well as the Stocks Ag range of applicators and seeders.