Dannevirke: Inspiration and fun for future farmers

Members of three Dannevirke South School teams in the AgriKids event at Dannevirke were Toby Walker (left), Will Billing and Quinn Stead. Photo / Christine McKay

Future farmers were competing in Dannevirke on Saturday, alongside the finalists in the East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year practical, and they were loving it.

Taking part in the AgriKids and TeenAg competitions, were children from schools around the region, including three teams from Dannevirke South School.

Calculating the sugar in drinks during the TeenAg event were Brenna Tait (left) and Phoebe Williams, of Iona College.

"There were all sorts of things we had to do, including figuring out the breeds of animals and planting seeds to changing a tyre on a quad bike," South School student Will Billing said.

"It's all fun as," Toby Walker said.

Napier Boys High School had five teams in the TeenAg event.

"This is a great way of fuelling them for the future," parent Adrian Arnold said. "It's inspiring for youngsters. For those competing in the AgriKids to the TeenAg event, seeing how the top young farmers go about things, it's something for them to aim for.

"And the challenges come out of left field too because if you're into dairying then you have to keep an eye on what's happening in sheep, beef and cropping."

The TeenAg competition was taken out by Callum and Archie Woodhouse from Rathkeale College in the Wairarapa, while the AgriKids winners were Samantha Marriott, Maddie Taylor and Georgia Higinbottom from Tinui School, also in the Wairarapa.

Bridgette Haldane (left), Bridgette Styles, Katie McNeil and Imojien De Brett, from Woodford House, watching the start of the competition between the finalists in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year.

AgriKids competed in teams of three in eight different modules, based on all aspects of the agriculture industry, while, in teams of two, the TeenAg competitors faced a range of hands-on modules.