Hauraki Plains duo named Waikato/Bay of Plenty Junior Young Farmers of the Year

Finn Patterson (left) and Campbell Trousdale from Hauraki Plains College. Photo / Supplied

Two Hauraki Plains students have been named the Waikato/Bay of Plenty FMG Junior Young Farmers of the Year.

Finn Patterson, 14, and Campbell Trousdale, 17, won the hotly-contested regional final in Matamata last month.

"I didn't think we'd done that well, so it was a shock when our names were called out," said Trousdale.

Almost 40 high schools students from across the sprawling region worked in pairs to tackle a range of challenges.

Liam Loijen, (left) Nathan Fladgate and Quin Farrell. St Mary's Catholic School, Putaruru. Photo / Supplied

The modules tested the students' practical and theoretical skills, and included a quiz hosted by Te Radar.

"I enjoyed all of the modules, especially the New Holland one using the tractor fitted with GPS technology," said Patterson.

Alex West, 14, and Alex Fitzgerald, 14, who are from Te Awamutu College, took out second place.

Both teams have qualified for the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Hawke's Bay.

It's the second time Patterson and Trousdale have made it through to the national final.

"We were second in last year's regional final, which meant we got to compete at the grand final in Invercargill," said Trousdale.

"We didn't really know what we were going into, so we were a bit under prepared."

"We know what to expect this time, so it should hopefully give us a bit of an advantage," he said.

Trousdale and Patterson are both students at Hauraki Plains College and members of the school's TeenAg club.

A talented trio from Putaruru won the fiercely-contested AgriKidsNZ contest for the second year in a row.

Quin Farrell, 12, Liam Loijen, 12, and Nathan Fladgate, 12, are all students at St Mary's Catholic School.

That regional final saw 45 students, working in teams of three, take on a series of fun modules.

Hailee Karekare, Kate Fitzgerald and Shae Lyons placed second in the AgriKidsNZ regional final. Photo / Supplied

"I really enjoyed the Honda module, which involved fitting wheels onto a farm bike," said Fladgate.

A large number of the competitors were from Maihiihi School, east of Otorohanga.

Kate Fitzgerald, 12, Hailee Karekare, 11, and Shae Lyons, 11, from Maihiihi School placed second.

Angel Oakley-Smith, 12, Te Koha Martin, 11, and Kate Rye, 11, who are also from Maihiihi School, were third.

All three teams have qualified for the AgriKidsNZ Grand Final in Hawke's Bay.

"It's awesome. We had a great time at last year's event. We are a good team because we help each other out and can work together," said Fladgate.

Both national finals will take place alongside the prestigious FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in July.

The FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year competition was formerly known as TeenAg.

Both events are a key part of the work being done by NZ Young Farmers to attract students into the agri-food sector.

Results:

Waikato/Bay of Plenty regional final: FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year

1st Finn Patterson and Campbell Trousdale. Hauraki Plains College.
2nd Alex West and Alex Fitzgerald. Te Awamutu College.
3rd Chloe Cole and Nerida Bateup. Te Kauwhata College.

AgriKidsNZ

1st Quin Farrell, Liam Loijen and Nathan Fladgate. St Mary's Catholic School. Putaruru.
2nd Kate Fitzgerald, Hailee Karekare and Shae Lyons. Maihiihi School.
3rd Angel Oakley-Smith, Te Koha Martin and Kate Rye. Maihiihi School.

Competitor of the day: Lochlin Siemelink.