The annual event to find the country's best young vegetable grower takes place next week. Photo / File
Six young vegetable growers from Pukekohe, Reporoa and Canterbury are preparing to compete in next week's New Zealand Young Vegetable Grower Competition in Pukekohe.
The competition is an annual event to find the country's best young vegetable grower.
The winner progresses to the national Young Grower of the Year final,
competing against five regional fruit growers for the national title.
Growers from Pukekohe-based company AS Wilcox have won the Young Vegetable Grower competition for the last two years. With AS Wilcox represented again this year, competition will be fierce as the other five competitors try to break their winning streak.
Canterbury is represented by two women growers, Hannah Langley, 28 from Amberley, and Penny Platt, 29 from Christchurch. Penny set up her own organic market garden in Lincoln in 2014 with no start-up capital and now employs five staff.
Pukekohe is represented by three competitors including Scott Wilcox, 23 from AS Wilcox, Robert Jones, 26 from Sutherland Produce, and Shaun Reynolds, 29 from T A Reynolds. Christopher Cowie, 26 from T&G hails from Reporoa.
"The New Zealand Young Vegetable Grower competition showcases our industry's top young talent. It's exciting to see our young industry leaders in action, putting their knowledge and skills to the test," said Mike Chapman, chief executive of Horticulture New Zealand, which runs the national final.
"Each year our contestants continue to lift the standard and we expect that this year will be no different."
The contestants complete six practical and theoretical exercises designed to test the skills needed to run a successful vegetable growing business, including demonstrating their knowledge of agri-chemicals, completing finance and marketing exercises and operating a tractor.
"These young growers are the future of our industry, and the competition provides a good measure of how well we support young up and coming vegetable growers. We wish all competitors the best of luck and look forward to seeing them in action," said Mr Chapman.
The NZ Young Vegetable Grower of the Year Competition will be held on Thursday 11 May from 8:30am at the Pukekohe Indian Hall, 57 Ward Street, Pukekohe.
