Pip wins Young Grower contest

Trainee orchard manager Pip Terekia, who works for the Apata Group, won the Gisborne Young Grower regional competition last week and has advanced to the national final in October.

Pip Terekia, a 30-year-old trainee orchard manager at Apata Group, won the 2024 Gisborne Young Grower of the Year competition held at EIT Rural Studies Unit last Thursday.

The event tested the vegetable and fruit-growing knowledge of nine contestants, along with the skills needed to be successful growers.

A range of theoretical and practical modules - from finance to tractor driving - tested their horticultural skills and knowledge.

At the gala dinner later that evening, each contestant delivered a speech and competed in a panel discussion.

It was a case of third time the winner for Terekia, who was second the first time he entered the competition in 2022 and placed third last year.

“We have a lot of resilience here in Gisborne - like me going in the competition three times.

“You have to keep getting back up and keep going,” he said.

“Have that never-give-up attitude. All the growers I’ve met just get stuck in.”

His speech was entitled Family v Corporate, in which he discussed the future of family operations and whether they remained viable in horticulture.

“It was good to research it. Working for quite a corporate operation at Apata, it was nice to learn more about ‘mum and dad-run’ orchards and small family farms. They’re kind of the backbone of the industry.”

Along with an opportunity to brush up on horticulture skills that were not part of his usual daily tasks, the competition offered Terekia a chance to connect with other young growers.

“I enjoy the networking. There’s a lot of familiar faces as I’ve been in horticulture for a while.

“I knew four of the competitors, and some of them, I have worked with. Runner-up Dalem Otter works with me at Apata Group, so that was a very good result.”

The other competitors were Makauri Anderson, Matt Davies, Paul Goodlet, Awatea Jobe, Aidan Stewart, Sirius Tamati-Smith and Larissa Wooding-Ngata.

Contestants had to be working full-time in the fruit and vegetable industry, and aged 30 or under as at December 31 last year.

The Gisborne contest was one of six regional competitions. The others are in Pukekohe, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson and Central Otago.

Each of the regional winners will face off for the overall title in Hawke’s Bay on October 9-10.

The national winner of the Young Grower of the Year then has the opportunity to compete at the Young Horticulturist of the Year, run by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture Education Trust.