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Home / The Country

FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional finals a success

The Country
20 Apr, 2022 10:30 PM3 mins to read

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Otago Southland FMG Young Farmer of the Year Alex Field setting the bar high with the first regional final on February 12. Photo / Supplied

Otago Southland FMG Young Farmer of the Year Alex Field setting the bar high with the first regional final on February 12. Photo / Supplied

The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is in sight, with all regional finals now finished and competitors selected.

There are 98 contest series competitors heading to Whangārei to battle it out for the top awards this July.

They are made up of seven Young Farmer of the Year grand finalists, 14 FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year teams (comprising 28 competitors) and 21 AgriKidsNZ teams (63 competitors).

For the first time in several years, all seven Young Farmer of the Year grand finalists are based on farms.

Waikato Bay of Plenty's Chris Poole, Tasman's Jonny Brown, Otago Southland's Alex Field and Taranaki Manawatū's David Reesby are all dairy farmers.

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Meanwhile, Northern's Tim Dangen, East Coast's Mark Wallace and Aorangi's Tom Adkins are based on sheep and beef farms.

Held across three days in Whangārei from July 7 - 9, the Grand Final will be action-packed with hundreds of people expected to be in attendance.

The Grand Final also coincides with the New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) AGM, Norwood National Awards and NZYF Tournament Series finals.

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NZYF chief executive Lynda Coppersmith said the regional final season had been "an absolute success".

"To have travelled across the country during the Omicron outbreak and held seven great regional finals with minimum disruptions and selected all our incredible competitors – all with no outbreaks at our events – is a testament to our exceptional teams and volunteers who put this contest together and their dedication and resilience."

Coppersmith said NZYF went further than "just implementing Government guidelines" to keep people safe.

Organisers reconfigured the event layout with different entry and exit points for spectators and competitors across all three levels of the contest.

Masks were also mandatory, competitors had to wear gloves and there were "multiple other mechanisms" in place to protect hosts and competitors moving through modules, Coppersmith said.

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"Our conveners, volunteer teams and sponsors went above and beyond to make the events the best they could be, some working with extremely minimal boots on the ground as isolation rules kicked in."

The Contest Series would not be possible without its "amazing volunteers and the hard hours, blood, sweat and tears they put into organising each event," Coppersmith said.

"Our conveners, committees and those who raise their hands on the day are the life and blood of FMG Young Farmer of the Year, and to say thank you and we appreciate you won't ever be enough to recognise their work."

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