Showdown ahead for farming flatmates
An Okato dairy farmer has been named the Taranaki/Manawatu FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
James Lawn, 27, took out the title after tackling five gruelling practical and theoretical challenges at the hotly-contested regional final in Hawera on Saturday.
The win has secured the former DairyNZ consulting officer a spot in the prestigious grand final in the Manawatu in July.
‘‘It’s still sinking in, I really can’t believe it. I’m speechless,’’ said Lawn, who isn’t often lost for words.
Lawn said he was looking forward to taking on two of his former flatmates in the grand final.
‘‘My old flatmates Hamish Best and Richard French will represent the East Coast and Waikato/Bay of Plenty regions respectively,’’ he said.
Lawn won $12,000 in prizes.
‘‘I was lucky that a few of the modules, like agri-chemicals and riparian planting, were a good fit with my previous job,’’ he said. ’’Plus, I’d done a bit of work on my fitness in the lead-up to the event, which proved really beneficial.’’
During the Agri-Sports Challenge, finalists had to put wheels onto a quad bike, erect a Taranaki gate, sew a button on to a shirt and service a piece of milking equipment. They also had to lassoo a wooden gumboot.
The eight finalists had all used chainsaws to carve the gumboots earlier in the day.
‘‘Nick Brown could definitely have a career as a chainsaw artist after this,’’ said host Te Radar.
‘‘His attention to detail is admirable.’’
Second place in the regional final went to Rongotea farmer Nigel Will and Toko’s Nick Brown was third.
Brown, who’s the chairman of Central Taranaki Young Farmers, won the Massey University AgriGrowth Challenge and the highlycontested Agri-Sports.
‘‘I really enjoyed the experience,’’ said Brown, a sheep and beef farmer.
‘‘I’m glad one of my fellow Taranaki competitors has made it through to the grand final. It’s been a while since that happened and is great news for our district.’’
The Young Farmer of the Year grand final will take place from July 6-8 in Manawatu with seven grand finalists from around New Zealand
The TeenAg competition was unprecedented, with five teams all from Feilding High School.
A team from Hiwinui School won the AgriKids regional final.