Tasman FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional final winner Jonny Brown. Photo / Supplied
Tasman FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional final winner Jonny Brown. Photo / Supplied
It was fourth and final time lucky for Tasman FMG Young Farmer of the Year, Jonny Brown, who took out the regional final title in Springston on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old dairy farm manager and Dunsandel Young Farmer has been named as the second FMG Young Farmer ofthe Year Grand Final qualifier for season 54.
Deer and dairy farmer Andrew Allan, 21, came runner up, meanwhile, Lincoln University student Archie Woodhouse, 20, came in third place.
Brown said he couldn't quite believe he'd won.
"Each year my preparation hasn't been great so I need to rectify that for Grand Final," he laughed.
The father of two struggled in previous years with the head to heads and said that aspect of the contest was his biggest challenge.
"I'm not creative at all so I have to figure it out. Luckily the young pups didn't know my weakness so I managed to pick up a few good points by finishing first with a pretty horrible chair and putting some pressure on the others."
Brown manages a dairy farm for Dairy Holdings Ltd which milks 1300 cows.
Archie Woodhouse, (left) came third, winner Jonny Brown and runner up Andrew Allan. Photo / Supplied
Extremely passionate about the industry, Brown has spent his career working through the ranks of dairying, contract milking and farm management, mainly around Canterbury since graduating from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce and Land Valuation.
Looking ahead to the Grand Final in Whangarei in July, Brown will ask friends to test him on all aspects of the primary industries.
"There's a lot of hard work ahead, I'm going to have to polish up on a lot of things.
"Once you've got a taste of being near the top you've got to climb that mountain."
The Young Farmer of the Year 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.
Listen to Rowena Duncum interview Lynda Coppersmith on The Country below:
"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."
Tasman FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional final results
1st - Jonny Brown, Dunsandel Young Farmers
2nd - Andrew Allan, Lincoln University Young Farmers
3rd - Archie Woodhouse, Lincoln University Young Farmers
