No.8 Wire: Bay's top farmer to be revealed

The winner of the 2014 Silver Fern Farms Hawke's Bay Farmer of the Year title, Hugh Ritchie, at Drumpeel Farm, near Otane. His successor will be named next week.

Hawke's Bay's top farmers will be named next Wednesday at the Napier Port Primary Sector Awards in the Showgrounds' Hawke's Bay A and P Events Centre next Wednesday.

The ceremony features the naming of the Silver Fern Farms Hawke's Bay Farmer of the Year, Pan Pac Hawke's Bay Farm Forester of the Year, the Laurie Dowling Memorial Award winner, the Lawson Robinson Hawke's Bay A and P Society Scholarship recipient, and the new Hastings District Council Hawke's Bay Primary Sector Industry Leader award winner.

Ahuwhenua Award

The three finalists in the 2015 Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Mori Excellence in Farming Awards for sheep and beef will be named today.

There will be considerable interest in whether the Hawke's Bay farming sector will be represented, as it was when the sheep and beef award was last presented two years ago, to Napier-Taupo highway enterprise and Tarawera Station owners Te Awahohonu Forest Trust.

The finalists will be named at Parliament and separate field days will be held at the selected properties on April 23, 30 and May 7, leading to the announcement of the winners on May 29.

Sheep awards

Nominations are now open for the fourth Beef + Lamb New Zealand Sheep Industry Awards, which will be presented in Invercargill on July 1.

Award categories cover genetics, production, and business innovation. The genetics awards recognise New Zealand's top breeders. These will be drawn from the B+LNZ Genetics SIL database. Another six industry awards will be made to nominated individuals or businesses, assessed by a panel of sheep industry experts.

Categories range from the Supplier of the Year award to the new Emerging Talent award. Nominations close on April 17.

Budding farmers

Supply seems to be far outweighing demand in the agricultural career market in the UK, where applications for apprenticeships in the farming and food sector this year have hit 36,000, a 900 per cent increase over the last five years.

But last year the British government helped more than 7000 young people into agricultural-related apprenticeships, an increase of just under 25 per cent. A further 3700 apprentices joined food manufacturing firms.

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: "There has never been a more exciting time to be involved in food and farming and record numbers of young people are looking to this hi-tech industry as a great career choice.

From engineers to scientists, marketers or economists - the range of careers available in these sectors is vast."

The British government is partnering with industry to provide more apprenticeships in the sector, estimating farming alone will need tens of thousands of new people this decade.

Wool sale

The rapid rise in the New Zealand dollar just prior to last week's auction resulted in a general lowering of prices in many classes of the fleece apart from fine crossbred fleece and some targeted coarser types. Of the 18,200 bales on offer 88.4 per cent sold.

The weighted indicator for the main trading currencies was up 1.78 per cent compared to the previous week's sale.

Fine Crossbred Fleece and Shears ranged from firm to 5 per cent dearer.

Coarse Crossbred Full Fleece were generally firm. Coarse Shears were firm to 2 per cent cheaper.

First Lambs were firm to 1.5 per cent cheaper overall.

Long Oddments were 2 to 7 per cent easier with short types firm to 3 per cent down.

Continuing strong interest from China and Australasia with support from the Middle East, Western Europe, India and the United Kingdom.

Yesterday's sale of South Island wool comprises about 9500 bales.