Waikato/Bay of Plenty Junior Young Farmer of the Year and AgriKids winners announced

FMG Junior Young Faremer of the Year winners Ben Ede and Anna Ede. Photo / Supplied

A duo from Cambridge High School have taken out the title for Waikato Bay of Plenty FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year 2021.

Anna Ede and Ben Ede topped the points table for the regional competition.

The contest for high school students in Teen Ag Clubs was held at the Tauranga Racecourse on Saturday, running alongside the Waikato Bay of Plenty FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional final.

Timothy Lumsden from Hamilton Boy's and Tayla Hansen from St. Paul's Collegiate came in second place.

Lumsden was also awarded the FMG Junior Young Farmer Competitor of the Day.

Both teams have been invited to compete at the Grand Final in Christchurch in July which runs alongside the FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand final.

Third place was taken out by the "Ag Angels" Boyd Fitzgerald and Justin Kasper from Hamilton Boys High.

The AgriKids competition for primary school aged children also ran alongside the teenage and senior contests.

AgriKids winners Isaac Farrell and Noah Barry. Photo / Supplied

"The Checkered Calves" from St Mary's Catholic School were crowned the winners, made up by Isaac Farrell, Noah Barry and Dayton Henare.

Second place was awarded to "The Farming Stars" made up by Logan Gardner, Lydia Disher and Zariah Whire From Maihiihi School.

Moana Oakley, Lauren Robinson and Olivia Watkins, also from Maihiihi School took out third place.

Agrikids Competitor of the Day was awarded to Sam Pacey.

The top three teams have all been invited to the Grand Final in Christchurch in July where they will compete against 21 other teams from across the country.

About FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year

Teen Ag Clubs in high schools across the country aim to introduce teenagers to the agriculture, food and fibre sector – from farming and growing, to fishing and horticulture and everything else in between.

Members can compete in teams of two in the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year contest in their region.

The pairs tackle eight theoretical and practical modules hosted by sponsors across a range of topics.

Modules in the past have included animal anatomy, fencing, meat cut I.D, gun safety, equine, agronomy, feed budgeting, chainsaw assembly and more.

The top five teams then head into "the face off", a famous Young Farmer of the Year buzzer-styled quiz where points are then added up and the winners decided.

14 FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year teams will battle it out for the national title in July, at the Grand Final.

About AgriKidsNZ Contest

The AgriKids contest is open to all primary school age students across the country where contestants compete in teams of three.

They complete a series of modules hosted by sponsors on the day before the top seven teams head into the race off where they undertake a sequence of tasks in a time and points challenge.

Gumboot throwing, fencing, driving go-karts, sack racing and fitting chains on motorbikes are just some of the practical activities the teams have had to tackle in previous years.

Theoretical modules surrounding livestock breeding and genetics, farm safety and healthy soil have also been challenges for teams to wrap their brains around.