Competition boosts community spirit
The real winner of this year’s FMG Young Farmer Region-off have been the regional communities.
New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) organise the competitions which take place alongside the ANZ Young Farmer Contest Regional Finals and TeenAg Competitions from February 9 to March 31. The first AgriKidsNZ Regional Final takes place this weekend on Saturday, February 9 in Whangarei at the Barge Park Showgrounds.
Teams of three will be tested on their knowledge of all things farming and all things New Zealand and after a whopping 600 children competed last year, organisers are looking forward to more of the same great action this year.
"The energy, enthusiasm and teamwork these kiwi kids demonstrate is wonderful and proves they love the outdoors and being active", said AgriKidsNZ project leader Josie Hampton.
"The competitors are always so keen to get stuck in and give the tasks a go. Sometimes they're off farms and know exactly what they're doing and sometimes they're just there to learn and try something different. The competition caters for everyone; for some of these children the competition is their one chance a year to have a rural experience", says Hampton.
AgriKidsNZ Regional Finals start at 8am and launch straight into the preliminaries where teams must complete a series of practical and theoretical modules before they can progress through to the fast paced Race-Off to determine which teams qualify to compete at the Grand Final in Auckland on May 17.
AgriKidsNZ is open to students in year four to eight and can enter for free by downloading an entry form at www.agrikidsnz.co.nz. A full list of regional final dates is also available on the AgriKidsNZ website.
Competitors also have the option to join the AgriKidsNZ Club – a network of over 1200 children; most of who have competed in the regional finals within the last couple of years. AgriKidsNZ Club Members are kept up to date with all the latest information on the competition and receive four AgMag Magazines a year; packed with all sorts of fun farming facts, stories and puzzles.
Entry to the AgriKidsNZ Club is also free.
