Chris Poole wins Waikato Bay of Plenty FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional final

The Country

6 Mar, 2022 11:00 PM3 mins to read

Waikato Bay of Plenty FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional final winner Chris Poole. Photo / Supplied

A 27-year-old dairy farmer has been crowned Waikato Bay of Plenty FMG Young Farmer of the Year.

Te Kawa West Young Farmer Chris Poole took out the title on Saturday night, in front of his wife and five-week-old son in Te Awamutu.

A dairy farmer and calf rearer on his family farm in Pirongia, Poole also works with Connecterra, a new Artificial Intelligence platform in the New Zealand market.

Agricultural consultant and Reporoa Young Farmer Braydon Schroder, 25, was named runner up.

Meanwhile, BNZ agribusiness partner and dry stock manager Stephen Brunskill, 26, from Hamilton City Young Farmers came in third.

Reflecting on the win, Poole said he was excited for the next step and Grand Final preparation.

"That was my third go at a regional final so I was pretty keen to win it which was good to finally do it," he said.

"I got pretty lucky in the quiz I think, went a bit bold on some questions and luckily they came my way."

Secon placegetter Braydon Schroder, (left) winner Chris Poole and third placegetter Stephen Brunskill. Photo / Supplied

Poole's wife Emma Dangen was an FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Finalist in 2019 and he was hoping to pick her brains.

"Sheep is definitely a weakness for me being a dairy farmer," he laughed.

"I'll be doing a bit of study with Emma, she'll have tips for me I'm sure having done it herself."

Named as the fourth Grand Final qualifier, Poole will be joining Otago Southland's Alex Field, Tasman's Jonny Brown and Aorangi's Tom Adkins in Whangarei in July.

"I did watch the head to heads and they looked like there was plenty of skill there so it will pretty tough competition," he said.

The contest is based on four pillars – agri-skills, agri-business, agri-sports and agri-knowledge.

The stakes for 2022 were incredibly high, as it was the third contest season affected by the global pandemic, New Zealand Young Farmers Chief Executive Lynda Coppersmith said.

However, entries for the contest were up 30 per cent this year despite the uncertainty of Covid, which was a credit to "all our amazing volunteers, members, sponsors and staff who put this contest together," she said in a statement.

"My gratitude for everyone's efforts extends beyond words and I am really proud to see how everyone has worked together to deliver another season, to pivot and adapt to new challenges including the red light framework."

Coppersmith said the calibre of competitors at each regional final was the highest she had seen.

"It is an extraordinary showcase of the skills and knowledge needed to be involved in the primary industries in this day and age.

"Our competitors represent the full diversity of the primary industries and the array of opportunities available and goes to show that New Zealand Young Farmers' members really are the best and brightest."