A potato farmer from Manawatu has been named the Fieldays Rural Bachelor of the Year, winning the coveted golden gumboot trophy and prizes including a $17,000 quad bike.
Paul Olsen from Opiki looked stunned when he was announced the winner, later telling the Herald he had won only one challenge
throughout the week.
But organisers of the popular event at the annual national agricultural expo near Hamilton said judges were looking for the all-round package including farm skills, confidence, attitude, crowd interaction as well as honesty, intelligence, enthusiasm and a sense of humour.
Mr Olsen, or "Spud", agreed he was a bit shocked at the win and that some of the other seven bachelors outshone him in the challenges, which included cooking, quad-bike skills, animal handling, a tractor pull, digger driving and blind dates with 10 "gumboot girl" bachelorettes.
The 35-year-old, who won the fencing challenge, thanked sponsors for making the competition happen.
