Takapau man takes people’s choice award
Takapau farmer Patrick Crawshaw admits he was pushed to the “absolute limit“at this year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand final but says he “loved every minute of it“.
Speaking after taking on six other finalists over three days of gruelling competition in Invercargill, Crawshaw said he was feeling “tired but not too bad“.
“I learnt a lot through the process, it was a very cool project to go through but certainly one that challenges the body and mind more than anything. I’ve never pushed it that far before in my life.
“It’s built to put us through our paces, that’s for sure, and push the body to the limit.”
The event saw the men tackle fast-paced practical modules, technical challenges and concluded on Saturday with the agriknowledge quiz.
South Otago sheep farmer Logan Wallace was named the overall 50th FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
Although it was Crawshaw’s first hit-out in a grand final he still managed to take out both the AGMARDT Agri-business challenge section and the FMG People’s Choice Award.
“In the People’s Choice award we were set up with a social media platform and a Facebook page, and it was a people’s choice drive ultimately.
‘‘We had to try and rally and get as many people to support us as we could. That just meant posting on Facebook about our pathway to the grand final and trying to create a bit of interest in what we are up to.”
The 24-year-old sheep and beef farmer said the practical day test was the hardest challenge.
“There was so much going on, we were given plans and timelines and then all of a sudden we had more stuff getting thrown at us to keep us on our toes.”
It also involved testing skills in human resources, finance and business analysis.
There were also plenty of realworld benefits to taking part, which would benefit his work at Foley Farming.
“There’s a huge amount of learning to come out of it and it is all definitely applicable to life.