From Sky Tower to cowshed
Every morning dairy farmer Sam Waugh sees the Auckland Sky Tower through his window. It's a great reminder of one of his key life goals - giving young people from towns and cities insights into farm life.
New Zealand’s longest-running agricultural contest the FMG Young Farmer of the Year is set to undergo a major overhaul.
The revamp is designed to entice more women to enter the iconic contest and to help showcase the country’s food story.
As part of the significant changes, the TeenAg competition will be rebranded the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year.
“We’ve just celebrated our 50th anniversary, which is an amazing achievement,” says Hinds dairy farmer and NZ Young Farmers contest board member Cole Groves.
“However, if we don’t make some major changes now, this contest won’t be relevant in another 50 years.”
The changes are outlined in a new strategy unveiled this month.
“There will still be a strong practical side to the contest, but our modules and to utilise technology more,” says Dannevirke banker and NZ Young Farmers Contest Board chair Rebecca Brown.
“In future contestants might have to use GPS technology to mark out and erect a fence around riparian planting.”
Contest organisers are keen to tap into innovation and technology being used and developed by sponsors.
“We’d like to inject a bit of excitement and unpredictability into the contest through the use of innovation,” says Cole.
Awards for the highest-scoring competitor in each of the five challenges – from agri-business to agri-skills - are being scrapped.
They’ll be replaced with new awards assessing contestants’ skills and knowledge across innovation, food, people, environment and technology.
“We’re hoping the changes encourage more women to give the contest a go,” said Cole.
“We want to expand contestants’ knowledge beyond just fencing and identifying different types of fertiliser.”
The NZ Young Farmers Contest Board hopes the much-needed strategy will instil some passion in the hard-working volunteers who organise the contest.
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.
Listed Canterbury milk processor Synlait’s shares have been placed in a trading halt.
OPINION: Even before the National-led coalition came into power, India was very much at the fore of its trade agenda.
A step-by-step guide helping farmers through the process of creating a Freshwater Farm Plan (FWFP) has been launched by FarmIQ.
OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents…
OPINION: Your canine crusader understands that MPI were recently in front of the Parliamentary Primary Sector Select Committee for an…