WORDS BY ANITA BODY, IMAGES SUPPLIED
Preparations are well underway for this year’s prestigious FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final being held in Hamilton from 11 to 13 July, and while the spotlight is largely focused on the finalists in the premier event, the categories aimed at secondary and primary school students are also fiercely contested.
Earlier this year more than 800 contenders from around the country took part in a series of seven regional finals to determine finalists for all three categories—the FMG Young Farmer of the Year, the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year, and AgriKidsNZ.
Competing in categories depending on their age, primary school students, some as young as eight, enter the AgriKidsNZ contest, while high school students, working in teams of two, are eligible for the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year competition. Those who’ve left school compete alone for a shot at rural stardom.
New Zealand Young Farmers’ Chief Executive, Lynda Coppersmith says this year’s regional events got off to a great start, shaping up to be one of the best yet with many new faces, including a large number of primary students entering the AgriKidsNZ competition. “It just goes to show the future of farming is in good hands.”
She says it’s great to see the competition continuing to evolve, attracting people from a range of backgrounds facing “a series of challenges that could test contestants on any aspect of modern farming across the entire supply chain.”
“The events bring together passionate and skilled young farmers from across the country, with each contestant demonstrating their understanding of the food and fibre sector and their commitment to the future of the industry.”
This year there will be seven FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Finalists, 14 FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year teams (28 competitors) and 21 AgriKidsNZ teams (63 competitors) heading to Hamilton in July to battle it out for the top awards.
The FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year is a chance for high school students to challenge themselves, have a bit of fun, and learn something new. Competing in teams of two, contestants complete a series of ag-focused modules (including speeches), testing their knowledge, their problem-solving abilities, and their practical farming skills. The top two teams from each regional final earn spots at the Grand Final to vie for the overall winner.
The AgriKidsNZ competition sees contestants compete in teams of three and complete a range of practical modules, also based on the food and fibre sector. It’s a chance for primary school students aged between 8 and 13 from all backgrounds to take part, enjoy the competition, get outside, and get active with their friends. The top three teams from each regional final get to move through to the Grand Final.
Both competitions allow school students to demonstrate their hands-on expertise in real life farming situations and navigate tasks that simulate the everyday challenges faced by farmers. It’s also a great opportunity to meet other competitors and build meaningful connections, especially for those looking towards careers in agriculture.
Lynda says the FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition is important in inspiring and supporting the next generation of farmers. “The FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition is an essential part of the agricultural industry, and we are proud to provide a platform for young farmers to showcase their skills and knowledge”.
“It was great to see the level of talent on display at the Regional Finals, and we are looking forward to the Grand Final to see who will take out the titles for Season 56.” Held across three days in Hamilton from the 11th to the 13th of July, the Grand Final will be action-packed with hundreds of people expected to be in attendance.
Proud Local History
Mid Canterbury has a proud history of youngsters representing the Aorangi region at the Grand Final, and this year is no exception, with local students coming from Mt Hutt College and Geraldine High School in the Junior Young Farmer competition and Longbeach School, in the AgriKidsNZ.
MT HUTT COLLEGE—JAMES CLARK & JACK FOSTER
For Mt Hutt College finalists, James Clark and Jack Foster, it will be the third time the pair have made it to the Grand Final, and they will be hoping to better last year’s overall third placing, and their win in the modules section. It’s also the last chance for the Year 13 students to enter this competition before they embark on university pathways.
James’s mother, Jayne Clark, says the family has a long history of entering the Young Farmer competitions, with James first getting started in the AgriKidsNZ competition while at Mt Somers Springburn School, and James’s brother, Charlie, also competing in events. Charlie was a member of Grand Final AgriKidsNZ winning team from Mt Somers Springburn School last year.
She says the boys both gain good knowledge from their agriculture classes at school and from their respective cropping farms at home. “We look to fill gaps in their knowledge that they might have. We look for people that we know who will help them and they also visit various industries. People are so great at giving up their time to help and support them.” Mid Canterbury’s rich agricultural base provides plenty of varied opportunities.
A week out from the competition, students will find out their speech topics. Jayne says the trip to the Grand Final in Whangarei two years ago saw the boys travelling separately with their families, trying to type on a shared document along the way as they prepared for the final. “We often make friends with the local library wherever we are.”
Last year was a little easier with the Grand Final held closer to home in Timaru. This year will see another road trip for both families as they head to Hamilton. With the Grand Final falling in the school holidays this year, there will be a greater opportunity to focus on competition preparations instead of trying to juggle schoolwork as well.
“The focus will be on not making mistakes. They are aiming to do the best they can, and hopefully come away with the top prize.”
She says the competitions, and especially tasks such as delivering speeches, have provided amazing experiences for the boys. “It’s great because it opens a pathway to an agriculture career and gives them the chance to take part in activities, they might not otherwise experience. It is great for personal growth.”
Also gaining a spot at the Junior Young Farmer Grand Final, is another pair of Year 13 students, this time from Geraldine High School—Shelby Henson, from Carew, and Ella Hole, from Kakahu.
Geraldine High School has been taking part in the competitions for over 10 years under the leadership of the school’s Primary Industry Academy (PIA) teacher, Sarah Foley-Smith. The PIA programme has been a mainstay in the school’s curriculum for as many years, and wherever possible, students have competed in the regional events.
“It’s a great chance for the students to take part in a competition, where they are working under pressure, when everyone is watching and when things can go wrong—and they do,” she says. “It is a great learning experience and is great for resilience. It certainly teaches them how to cope under pressure.”
Another bonus are the planning and organisational skills the PIA students take from the event and apply to the primary school competitions they run at local A & P Shows.
“It really helps for inspiration for the activities at the Mackenzie and local Temuka and Geraldine A&P Show. What our students achieve is phenomenally amazing! We had 100 primary school kids go through our competition at Winchester (Temuka & Geraldine A & P Show) this year.”
Shelby and Ella are looking forward to the competition, and Sarah says it’ll be great experience for them both before they head off to university next year.
It’s not the first time Geraldine High School has been represented at the Grand Final; in fact, most years Geraldine has had students in attendance. “Last year was the first time in a long time we were not at the Grand Final,” says Sarah.
“Our best result was in 2019 when one of our teams placed third overall and won the practical section. We generally place reasonably high in the practical events. They’re often a lot of fun. One of the more memorable was when students had to bone out fish.”
She says there’s lots of emphasis on the exam and speeches component, which can be pretty “high powered.”
With such strong interest from senior students taking part in the PIA programme, it is difficult to accommodate younger competitors as well, although the school did field a Grand Final winning team in the 2017 AgriKidsNZ competition.
“Those competitions are always very exciting to watch,” says Sarah.
LONGBEACH PRIMARY SCHOOL— LONGBEACH FARMWISE (HENRY POTTINGER, EDWARD WHITE, GEORGE LASH)
For Year 8 pupils, Edward White, Henry Pottinger and George Lash, this year’s AgriKidsNZ is also their last chance to compete at this level. All have previously competed at a regional level, but this is the first time as a team.
And Edward isn’t the only member of his family competing in the Grand Final this year. His sister Tabitha is a member of the Rangi Ruru Girls’ School team representing the Tasman region in the Junior Young Farmer of the Year.
Just like their Junior Young Farmer counterparts, these AgriKids students also tap into their own on farm knowledge, while also taking the opportunity to talk to as many other experts as possible. Longbeach Primary School’s teacher in charge of AgriKids, Debbie Boon, says the students have plenty of passion for agriculture and are very keen to take part.
“We’re allowed to enter eight teams for the regionals. I could easily fill 10 or 11 or even more. We have students as young as Year 4 wanting to take part. It is so popular we usually have to restrict it to Year 6, 7 and 8 students first, although we did also have Year 5 students involved this year.”
Students from the school have been attending AgriKids competitions for about 10 years. Debbie says it takes a huge amount of effort for the school and the parents —who are equally passionate about farming and the competition. “We’ve had three teams go through to the Grand Final—one in 2020 when the event was held online due to Covid.”
“It complements our school curriculum. We run other rural-focused events like our Country Day which is very popular and well supported by the local community.”
She says AgriKids is a great w ay for the students to share knowledge, work together and help each other. This starts early in the year with fundraising and preparation for the regional competition.
“The students get to take part in some really fun activities—from building bee hives through to putting a saddle together. It’s very broad and really stretches them.