Couple compete for top title
A Central Hawke’s Bay couple is set to go head-to-head in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
Alice Speedy and Jono Green, who are both 29, have qualified for the East Coast regional final next month.
The couple co-own a 670 hectare sheep and beef farm near Waione. It’s their first time competing in the event.
“I’m going to beat Jono,” laughed Alice, who works as a shepherd for her parents on their farm in nearby Herbertville.
“I’m better at time management than he is, so hopefully that will work to my advantage.”
Alice has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) from Lincoln University and says she isn’t afraid of a challenge.
She spent five years shepherding in the South Island high country, before travelling overseas in 2016.
“I cycled 4000 kilometres around Europe with a friend. I had no training. I just got off the plane and bought the first second hand bike I liked the look of,” she said.
“We then flew to Tanzania and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and did a brief stint teaching in schools.”
Jono also enjoys scaling new heights. He’s training to be a pilot and is halfway through getting his private licence to fly a small fixed-wing plane.
“I’m really looking forward to the regional final, especially beating Alice. It should be a bit of a laugh,” he said.
Jono grew up on a sheep and beef farm near Kaikoura and has a Diploma in Farm Management from Lincoln University.
The Puketoi Young Farmers member works part-time at a nearby station.
He’s previously competed in the semifinals of the national dog trials and spent four months working on a hunting estate in the Scottish highlands in 2016.
“It was a pretty cool experience. I’d take wealthy English and Europeans around the estate hunting red deer stags,” he said.
The couple will go up against six other contestants in the East Coast regional final in Dannevirke on April 13.
They are Ashley Greer, Chris O’Leary, Hamish Hammond, Henry Smith, Joseph Watts and Rob Barry.
Contestants will tackle a series of gruelling practical and theoretical modules at Pukemiro Station. It will be followed by a dinner and fast-paced agriknowledge quiz hosted by Te Radar at the Dannevirke Town Hall. The winner won’t have far to travel to represent the region at the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Napier in July. Trustees of the Central Hawke’s Bay Consumer Power Trust (CHBCPT) have determined the ownership of shares in local lines company, Centralines Limited, will stay in the hands of consumers.
This decision follows public consultation at the end of 2018, which unanimously resolved to maintain the current ownership structure of Centralines Limited — being wholly owned by the trust.
CHBCPT has owned 100 per cent of the company’s shares since its inception in 1993, following public consultation in 1992. The trust deed requires the ownership of Centralines to be reviewed and presented to consumers every five years. This review assesses the performance over the previous five years and recommends how the shares should continue to be held.
Central Hawke’s Bay Consumer Power Trust chairman Alistair Setter thanks consumers who responded to the consultation.
“It was pleasing to see such overwhelming support to maintain the status quo from both consumers and the company itself — the directors of Centralines,” said Mr Setter.
The trust will continue to review the ownership structure every five years. Information on the company is available from the Centralines office and its website, www.centralines.co.nz.