Competitors in a tractor handling contest at the Eskdale District YFC rally had the tricky task of manoeuvring a long trailer through a tight course marked out with fencing stakes. And as if that was not difficult enough, the second driver in each two-person team had to reverse the tractor and trailer through the course!

The event was one of many traditional Young Farmers Club competitions held at the rally organised by Stokesley YFC in North Yorkshire to test the skill, competitive spirit and artistic talent of young people living and working in the countryside. Similar events are held up and down the country, culminating in a national competitions day for the most successful entrants to represent their clubs and counties.


McCormick X7 Pro Drive, driven by Whitby YFC's Rob Forster

Whitby YFC members Kate Hodgson and Rob Forster won the tractor handling event, which emphasises skill and safety rather than speed. But however well they fared, all those taking part had the distinction of being among the first in Yorkshire to get behind the wheel of the all-new McCormick X7 Pro Drive tractor.

It was loaned by farm machinery dealer Rob Stevenson of Stokesley-based Agriplus.