Young Farmer finale all online
Two Geraldine teams will represent the region in the first online Junior FMG Young Farmer of the Year 2020 grand final in cyber space today.
Three regional finals were cancelled due to Covid-19 so the entire contest was moved online. The resulting 14 South Island finalist teams, from seven regions, have spent this week completing most of their practical and cerebral activities online.
The two teams are from the Geraldine High School Primary Industries Academy – James Rowley and Robert Furrer, and Nicole Wakefield-Hart and Hannah White, all 17.
‘‘It was quite interesting ... and very intense,’’ the academy head of department Sarah FoleySmith said.
The two Geraldine teams spent Saturday in the field at Geraldine High School for the first time since making the finals.
Their farmlet challenge was to build a rotating compost bin in two hours with a volunteer Young Farmers Club judge on site in the – 4 degrees Celsius temperature, Foley-Smith said.
Other tasks this week for the finalists include developing a farm with a financial plan, creating a promotional video, writing and delivering a fiveminute speech, making a biosecurity plan and completing eight modules online.
This week had been stressful for the contestants because they also had a full academic workload as well with assessments due, she said.
This evening the teams will compete online in an exam, a series of modules and also present their speeches.
The top five point-scoring teams will then move into the ‘‘Face Off’’ where they will battle it out in a Young Farmer of the Year-styled quiz followed by the awards’ ceremony also online.
AgrikidsNZ, a farming contest for primary aged pupils, will see 21 teams follow a similar format to the junior contest.
Today the AgriKids teams will also be going head-to-head in an exam, modules and completing an agri-task.
The top five teams will then head into the AgriKids ‘‘Race Off’’ followed by the awards ceremony.
Live updates will be on www. teenag.co.nz and facebook.com/ teenagnzyf/. A live stream of the Face Off and awards ceremony can also be found on the Teen Ag Facebook page.