Okato dairy farmer takes region's title

James Lawn

An Okato dairy farmer has been named the Taranaki/Manawatu FMG Young Farmer of the Year.

James Lawn, 27, took out the title after tackling five gruelling challenges at the hotly-contested regional final in Hawera.

The win has secured the former DairyNZ consulting officer a spot in the prestigious grand final in the Manawatu in July.

"It's still sinking in, I really can't believe it. I'm speechless," said James, who isn't often lost for words.

"I was lucky that a few of the modules, like agri-chemicals and riparian planting, were a good fit with my previous job. Plus, I'd done a bit of work on my fitness in the lead-up to the event, which proved really beneficial."

James won $12,000 in prizes.

The Massey University graduate is looking forward to taking on two of his former flatmates in the grand final.

"My old flatmates Hamish Best and Richard French will represent the East Coast and Waikato/Bay of Plenty regions respectively."

Second place in the regional final went to Rongotea farmer Nigel Will. Toko's Nick Brown was third.

Nick, who's the chairman of Central Taranaki Young Famers, won the Massey University Agri-Growth Challenge and the highly-contested Agri-Sports.

"I really enjoyed the experience," said Nick, who's a sheep and beef farmer.

"I'm glad one of my fellow Taranaki competitors has made it through to the grand final. It's been a while since that happened and is great news for our district."

During the Agri-Sports Challenge, finalists had to put wheels on a quad bike, erect a Taranaki gate, sew a button onto a shirt, service a piece of milking equipment and lasso a wooden gumboot.

The eight finalists used chainsaws to carve the gumboots earlier in the day.

"Nick Brown could definitely have a career as a chainsaw artist after this," said host Te Radar. "His attention to detail is admirable."

The TeenAg competition was unprecedented, with five teams all from Feilding High School, facing off against each other. A team from Hiwinui School took out the AgriKids regional final.