Patrick Crawshaw competing in the head-to-head section of the East Coast Young Farmers competition in 2023.
Patrick Crawshaw competing in the head-to-head section of the East Coast Young Farmers competition in 2023.
Nine contestants will be battling it out for the qualifying round in the New Zealand Young Farmers East Coast region.
This year’s regional final will be held in Masterton on March 23-24.
The annual competition boasts a strong track record of showcasing the very best talent and skills New Zealand’s food and fibre sector has to offer.
The East Coast final is one of seven regional competitions taking place across the country between February and April. Alongside some well-earned mana, the top contestants will qualify for a spot in the Grand Final, set to take place in Hamilton in July.
Day one will be head-to-head competitions where the contestants will compete side-by-side to finish a range of tasks within a 30-minute time limit.
Judges are looking for the ultimate all-rounder with challenges that involve machinery, fencing, livestock and more.
Day two of the competition will conclude with a formal dinner and buzzer quiz, giving contestants one final bid for points before the winners are announced.
According to NZ Young Farmers, the two-day trial format has been adopted because the contest takes up many volunteer hours.
“The trial is helping us to find ways that we can still find New Zealand’s best young farmer, but in a way that is potentially more streamlined.”
Contestants will compete in one of three categories, depending on age.
Primary school students, some as young as 8, enter the AgriKidsNZ contest and there are 35 teams in this category.
High school students, working in teams of two, are eligible for the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year competition and there are also 35 teams in this category.
Those who have left school compete alone for rural stardom.
Our Young Farmers contestants have a lot to live up to after last year’s entrant Patrick Crawshaw took out the regional title in Dannevirke.
Patrick, a Patoka beef and lamb farmer, was one of many farmers impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle last year and said arriving at the A&P showgrounds was “surreal”, as he hadn’t been into town since the cyclone cut off his only access route.
Last year’s final was a close match, with Patrick scoring just a quarter of a point more than the next contestant.
