North to host Grand Final spectacle

Whangarei will host this year's FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest series Grand Final.

The prestigious event featuring the best Young Farmers in New Zealand is being held from July 7 to 9, also featuring the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year and AgriKidsNZ competitions.

The seven FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand finalists competed in district contests from September last year to gain qualification for the Regional Finals which were held early this year.

Alongside the contest series, the New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) tournament series finals would bring in 47 competitors, including seven fencing teams competing in pairs, 20 stock judges and 13 clay target shooters. About 200 people would also attend The Norwood National Awards hosted by Jay and Dunc from The Rock Drive radio show. The organisation's AGM was also scheduled.

New Zealand Young Farmers chief executive Lynda Coppersmith said the stakes for 2022 were incredibly high being the third contest season impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite that the entries were up 30 per cent after a concerted effort, she said.

"The calibre of competitors is the highest I have seen and it is an extraordinary showcase of the skills and knowledge needed to be involved in the primary industries in this day and age.

"Our competitors represent the full diversity of the primary industries and the array of opportunities available and goes to show that New Zealand Young Farmers' members really are the best and brightest."

Coppersmith said the practical parts of the competition would go ahead - rain, hail or shine.

"It will be a real spectacle, showcasing the skills of these competitors."

Grand Final convener Natalie Lynch said they were really looking forward to showcasing the best of Northland's agriculture industry and showing off the region to about 800 visitors.

"We've kept two things at the forefront of our minds when planning and that was wanting to challenge our contestants to show what they're made of in terms of their agricultural skills but we also want a spectacle. We want it to be awesome to watch for everyone, regardless of their experience within the sector."

The contest was based on four pillars - agri-skills, agri-business, agri-sports and agri-knowledge.

The seven regions are Northern, Waikato Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Taranaki Manawatu, Tasman, Aorangi and Otago Southland, with more than 60 NZYF Clubs scattered from the top of the country to the bottom.

Northern's 2022 FMG Young Farmer of the Year was Tim Dangen, a beef farmer and calf rearer from Muriwai.

In the Grand Final, he would be up against his brother-in-law, Chris Poole, who won the Waikato Bay of Plenty regional final.

The FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest series Grand Final would kick off on Thursday with a technical day, held at the Hundertwasser Art Centre. The NZYF Tournament Series finals would also take place at a range of locations.

An opening celebration parade at 3pm would involve hundreds of competitors and sponsors proceeding from Reyburn House Lane to Putahi Park at the Town Basin for the official opening ceremony.

Friday, July 8 would be one of the biggest days with the practical activities held at Barge Showgrounds from 7am to 3pm, which was free and open for all spectators.

All 98 competitors across the three levels of the contest series would go head-to-head in a series of practical and theoretical challenges as well as a number of modules with hundreds of supporters expected.

AgriKidsNZ featured primary and intermediate ages from eight to 13 competing in teams of three, and the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year section featured high school ages competing in teams of two.

Practical day involved big machinery, building, livestock and more with agri-sports, farmlets, and race-off challenges.

Lynch said everything would have a bit of a "Northland flavour" this year.

"A lot of people involved in Northland's sector are wearers of many hats, so there will be no straight farming skillset required on the day. There will be lots of different challenges contestants will have to face that relate to our industry, not exclusively on-farm.

"We really encourage everyone to come down and watch, there truly be something for everyone. We can't wait to showcase the best and brightest of Young Farmers and Whangarei."

NZYF events manager Staci Barnette said the FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand finalists, and their families and supporters would also participate in an initiative with the Environmental Protection Agency, a contest sponsor.

"We wanted to give back to the community and volunteer in some way while also giving competitors some quality time with their families to regroup before the evening show where nerves are pretty high.

"Sustainability is a huge part of the contest and making sure the primary industries are fit for the future. It's pretty cool that our FMG Young Farmer of the Year 2022 grand finalists will be able to leave their own legacy in Whangarei."

The FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year teams and their families would head to Lynwood Avocado Nursery for an outing where they would be introduced to different parts of the nursery and contest sponsor, the Ministry for Primary Industries, would also be on-site, discussing the nursery's bio-secure areas.

"We wanted to provide the contestants with a learning opportunity about an aspect of farming and growing that is unique to the Northern region. "It's also a chance for the contestants and their supervisors to come together after all of the competing is over so they can network and get to know other like-minded future young farmers from other parts of the country."

Three Northland school teams would be competing in the AgriKidsNZ grand final. They were the KIS Cows, made up Emmy Dickson, Olivia Henwood and Wyatt Parry and Kamo Intermediate School classmates the Udder Disappointments, made up of Mason Lash, Dylan Pascoe, and Harrison Clover; as well as the Whangarei Waiotira Wombles made up of Louise Neumann, Liam Copper and Paige Rewa.

Two FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year teams would also represent the Northern region, siblings Grady and Lottie Collis, and Mary Innes and Tessa Berger - and they are all from Mahurangi College.

"The Junior section is the fastest growing sector. It's really growing in popularity and the schools love it," Coppersmith said.

A formal dinner at McKay Stadium, Whangarei, on July 9 would cap off the festivities where the seven grand finalists would battle behind buzzers for a quiz section after which the season 54 FMG Young Farmer of the Year would be announced.

The FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest series would not be possible without support from its family of sponsor: FMG, Ravensdown, Worksafe, Ministry for Primary Industries, Environmental Protection Authority, Honda, STIHL, Massey University, Lincoln University, New Holland, and PTS Logistics.