People’s pick award for Geraldine duo
A Geraldine High School Primary Industries Academy team was named FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year People’s Choice at the competition’s grand final on Friday.
Hannah White, a Mayfield dairy farmer, and Nicole Wakefield-Hart, a Pleasant Point sheep farmer, missed out on the top five spots but impressed judges with their three-minute video, talking about themselves, where they come from, why they entered and why they wanted to win Junior Young Farmer of the Year, and what agriculture means to them.
The video showed the girls around the school and a typical day on their farms.
Nicole wants to go into shepherding and Hannah wants to pursue a degree in agricommerce, and they both entered the competition to show that girls are ‘‘just as capable as males’’.
The video was just one element of the competition, which was held online for the first time this year because of Covid-19.
Throughout the week, the finalists had to build a rotating compost bin, develop a farm financial plan, make a biosecurity plan, complete eight online modules – all alongside their school workload – and at the online final on Friday they gave a five-minute speech and completed an online exam. ‘‘A horrendously epic week is over,’’ school principal Sarah Foley-Smith said.
‘‘A massive thank you to our teams, families and their teachers for their help and support in a competition that has had its challenges every step of the way.’’
The girls each received a $250 Prezzy Card and Geraldine High school was awarded a $1000 Prezzy Card for sporting equipment. Fellow students Robert Furrer and James Rowley also made it to the finals.