His father was doing much of the basic farm work on the 290ha property near Waipahi, which is an intensive sheep breeding/finishing farm, allowing him to focus on the contest.
Plans were put in place early on, which was making winter tick by "quite nicely", he said. Mr Wallace represented Otago-Southland in the grand final in Timaru in 2016, and had learned a lot from the experience, he said.
Otago-Southland has a strong record in the grand final; last year's winner Nigel Woodhead farms near Milton, while there was a stellar patch in the mid-2000s when Robert Kempthorne won in 2003, Simon Hopcroft in 2004 and David Holdaway in 2005.
Mr Wallace acknowledged the practical component of the competition was his strength and it was also what he enjoyed most.
The theory was what he needed to work on; he has mild dyslexia, which meant he could struggle to put his answers on paper.
The first of the main events begins on July 5, when grand finalists will tackle a technical day. The final will culminate with the crowning of the winner on the Saturday, after the quiz night.
It was "absolutely awesome" to be competing in the anniversary event and also in front of a home crowd and he was expecting plenty of support.
But there was also a downside to home advantage as it made it very difficult to prepare.Trying to get people to do a "buzzer" session was difficult as most were involved in the organisation of the event.
He was pleased to have had the experience of a previous grand final, as he would not have wanted it to be his first time, he said.
Mr Wallace's goal was to win the competition and he acknowledged it would be an "incredibly tough" challenge, with the six other "top guys" competing, but he was looking forward to it.
He was frustrated about not having been able to do any maintenance on the farm over the past two and a half months.
However, the opportunities that had come up from both the Ballance Farm Environment Awards and the Young Farmer of the Year were "huge".
Neighbour and friend James Watt, who compered a field day on the Wallace family's farm last month, won the grand final title in 1980.
It had always been a goal, since a young age, to compete — and win — the competition, he said.
Mr Wallace's home Young Farmers Club was Clinton and he has now moved into Otago Federated Farmers, taking on vice-chairman for meat and wool.
That was a great opportunity that had came through being involved with regional Young Farmers, he said.
He was also a Land Search and Rescue member and leads a youth group, where it was rewarding to see young people learning to believe in themselves and working together. Asked how he fitted everything in, he said it was "quite a good balancing act".
Cameron Black, a Christchurch-based rural consultant for New Zealand Agri Brokers, will represent the Aorangi region.
