Now she owns and manages Nurture Farming Ltd, which provides agricultural support services to farms and lifestyles blocks around Franklin.
Competing against Kendall in the Northern regional final at Whangarei on March 18 next year will be Rachel Blackley, also 24, who finished third in the Upper North District Contest and Skills Day at Whangarei on November 5 behind winner Kurtis Danks and runner-up Clerment Lafon.
Blackley - a Massey University graduate with a bachelor of agricultural science degree - is also likely to thrive in the theory section of the regional contest.
And as assistant manager on a 460-cow dairy farm in Matarau for Douglas Farms she is likely to get a lot of good advice from farm manager Jake Thomson and sharemilker Ian Douglas, who were grand finalists in 2016 and 2013 respectively.
Kendall and Blackley are among three young women contesting regional finals nationally and they could be the first Northern females to take part in a grand final since Katherine Tucker, from Tapora, placed seventh when representing the region in 2012.
However, Kendall and Blackley won't be encountering much "ladies first" politeness among the six skilled young men they will face in the Whangarei contest for the region's sole Grand Final place.
Lower North winner Colin Beazley, 29, has finished fourth at the regional final twice before and will be hoping third time lucky.
A 50:50 share-milker from Wellsford with 350 dairy cows, Beazley has all round ability after growing up on a sheep and beef farm in North Hokianga.
The Lower North third placegetter, Daniel Richards, 19, came through the TeenAg Contest ranks before moving up to the FMG Young Farmer of the Year last year.
A dairy farm assistant at Tomarata, he has youth on his side and may be the dark horse of the field.
Jack Thomas, fourth in the Wellsford district contest, holds Bachelor of Commerce and Agriculture qualifications and worked on a dairy farm before taking a position with PGG Wrightson Fruitfed in Kumeu.
Although this is his first year in the contest, Thomas follows his brother Angus who competed in 2014 and came third behind David Kidd, the first Northern region contestant to win the FMG Young Farmer of the Year title.
The Upper North district contest winner, 21-year-old Kurtis Danks, has an impressive resume for someone so young, including being runner-up Trainee of the Year in the Northland Dairy Awards last year.
He also came eighth when he competed in the Northern regional final for the first time last year.
Although not raised on a farm, Danks got plenty of experience helping his grandparents on their farm in school holidays and entered the industry through a work experience programme at high school.
Now studying for a Level 5 qualification with Primary ITO and chairman of Kaipara Young Farmers, he has shown determination and self-belief which make him one to watch at the regional final.
But right on his heels is Clement Lafon - a Frenchman who moved to New Zealand three years ago after completing a five-year engineering degree.
He grew up on a cropping farm and although he initially came to this country as a mechanic, the pull of the land saw him fall in love with the dairy industry.
He now manages a 530 jersey-cow farm at Kamo and, in his second year of competing, is excited to have progressed to the regional final.
Fourth in the Upper North district contest, dairy farm manager Ryan Morris, 26, is in his first year of Young Farmer of the Year competition.
Recently back from a five-week OE, Ryan he has been settling back into routine on his family's 600-cow Mangakahia dairy farm and preparing for next March when he and the other seven Northern district contestants for a spot in the grand final to be held next July in the Manawatu.
