Contest final staged
The rural sector awards season continues to heat up.
The Napier Port Hawke’s Bay Primary Sector Awards will be held in Hastings next week, after the East Coast final of the national Young Farmer of the Year competition is staged in Waipukurau this Saturday.
Hawke’s Bay A&P general manager Brent Linn said the winners of the Silver Fern Farms Farmer of the Year trophy, the centrepiece of the region’s primary sector award, would be named at the annual gala dinner at the showgrounds in Hastings on April 6.
“They are the region’s largest celebration of the strength, diversity and leadership present in its primary sector.”
The greatest interest is in the Farmer of the Year contest and Mr Linn said entrants will have had to demonstrate astute management given the rollercoaster year climatically and market wise.
All up five other awards are also at stake, including the Pan Pac Hawke’s Bay Farm Forester of the Year.
This Saturday, April 1will see the national Young Farmer of the Year East Coast Regional Final staged in Waipukurau.
There are eight finalists for the showdown at the Waipukurau Racecourse, all battling for a place at the national grand final in Manawatu on July 6-8.
The eight East Coast finalists, from a series of district competitions, are Hawke’s Bay representatives Hugh Abbiss, Ben Thomas and Hamish Best, Tararua’s Liam Kelly, Daniel Tarbottom and Patrick Crawshaw, and Wairarapa hopes Richard Cameron and Henry Reynolds.
Hawke’s Bay district winner Hamish Best is a front runner, having finished second in last year’s regional final.
The 26-year-old PGG Wrightson technical field officer is studying hard in the lead up to the April final— particularly in practical tasks.
AMassey University graduate, Best holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree with honours and is expected to be hard to beat in the technical component of the final. However, Hugh Abbiss, the runner-up at the Hawke’s Bay contest, will be tough competition.
The 24-year-old lamb and beef finishing manager is an endurance runner and will be physically and mentally tough when it comes to the pressure cooker that denotes a regional final.
Abbiss holds a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in agriculture, and has awide range of experience including working on his parents’ arable, sheep and beef farm in Feilding.
Third place winner Ben Thomas was not far behind Abbiss and showcased his practical skills.
The 25-year-old works as a 2IC at Rissington Station and holds a Primary ITO Diploma in Agriculture.
The seven regional winners will progress to the grand final at Manawatu in July. In 49 years only three women have ever made the grand final.