FMG Young Farmer title finalists
Four dairy farmers are among the seven finalists vying for the FMG Young Farmer of the Year title.
Steve Henderson is the first Grand Finalist to be named in the 2015 ANZ Young Farmer Contest.
The 29-year-old sharemilker took first place at the Otago/Southland Regional Final in Queenstown on Saturday, February 7.
Henderson went home with a prize pack worth over $10,000 including cash, scholarships and products and services. He also won the Lincoln University Agri-Growth and Ravensdown Agri-Skills challenges.
This was Henderson’s third attempt at regional final level of the ANZ Young Farmer Contest. He is a very active member of the Waitane Young Farmers Club as well as the Winton Fire Brigade. He sharemilks 320 cows on a 112ha property alongside his wife Tracy near Winton.
Henderson is off to the Grand Final in Taupo, July 2-4 where he will battle it out for the Champion’s title and more than $270,000 in prizes.
The Otago/Southland Regional Final featured a strong group of contestants with plenty of knowledge and talent on display. The eight contestants were required to complete a variety of challenges that all touched on all aspects of farming from practical hands-on tasks to theory and business components.
Second place went to 25-year-old Waipahi sheep farmer, Logan Wallace, of the South Otago Young Farmers Club. He took home $2,900 worth of prizes.
Third place went to Riverton dairy farmer John White (30) and fourth place went to Justin Davie (26), of the Thornbury Young Farmers Club.
The AGMARDT Agri-Business Challenge winner was John White and Justin Davie won the Silver Fern Farms Agri-Sports Challenge.
The 2015 ANZ Young Farmer Contest features seven regional finals culminating in the Grand Final.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…