Pirongia farmer gains new skills

Pirongia farmer Kenneth Veen gets the crowd clapping before starting the fitness challenge.

Kenneth Veen may not be the Rural Bachelor of the Year.

But he's walked away from the Fieldays competition with new friends, skills and confidence.

The Pirongia farmer was one of eight bachelors who had their skills, attitude and charisma tested in a number of competitive challenges, from physical strength and fitness to fencing, cooking and woodchopping.

"I never thought I was going to win," Mr Veen says.

"But I was pretty happy with the effort I put in."

The coveted Golden Gumboot went to Fairlie farmer Matthew McAtamney.

Queensland farmer Gordon Mill took out the Rural Bachelor People's Choice award.
"The guys that did win, they were pretty remarkable people. I'm not disappointed to lose to them - they deserved it."

He hopes to keep in touch with the other competitors whom he now calls friends.

And now, it's back to life on the farm - but with a few more skills.

"It's back to reality. I've lost my 15 minutes of fame.

"Hopefully I've gained some new farming skills."

Mr Veen works on his family farm in Te Rore.

He attended Ngahinapouri School and Hamilton Boys' High School before studying finance and marketing at Waikato University.

The 31-year-old entered the competition after his girlfriend left him.

But he managed to meet a few girls and gain confidence during the competition.

"I started off the week pretty shy, but I'm way more confident now."

He hopes he won't need to enter a bachelor competition again.

"Hopefully by this time next year I'm not eligible to."

Mr Veen also scored a few freebies.

"They gave us heaps of free stuff. It's pretty much an all-expenses paid trip to the Fieldays, so I can't complain about that.

"I got a pretty good swag just from entering, so there's nothing more I could really ask for."

Mr Veen would highly recommend the challenge to other keen bachelors.

"It's an amazing week."