A duo from St Bede’s College have taken out the title for Tasman Region FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year 2021.

Thomas Whiting and Griff Westwood topped the points table for the regional competition. 

The contest for high school students in Teen Ag Clubs was held at Malvern A&P Showgrounds on Saturday, running alongside the TasmanFMG Young Farmer of the Year (FMG YFOTY) Regional Finals.

Griff and Thomas enjoyed a challenging day of modules that saw them put their teamwork to the test. The duo said they were ‘pretty proud’ to win the top spot and enjoyed the opportunity to get stuck in and give it a go.

“The quiz was probably the most challenging, mainly because of the pressure,” said Griff.

“Our teacher gave us some help with things to study and we took advantage of the material sent out to us beforehand as well. Using those tips along with the study really helped us but I think our teamwork is what pulled us through,” said Thomas.

The pair are looking forward to putting their best foot forward at the Grand Final in July and said they foresee a lot more study in their future to prepare.

Runner up FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year was awarded to Erin Humm and Amelia Ridgen from Christchurch Girls High School.

Runners up Erin and Amelia agreed that the best part of the day was getting amongst it and giving the competition a crack.

“There were some incredibly helpful people here today running modules and helping everyone along. It’s been a really great atmosphere,” said Amelia.

With a number of highlights from the day, the pair said they got the most out of the Biosecurity module.

Both teams have been invited to compete at the Grand Final in Christchurch in July which runs alongside the FMG YFOTY Grand Final.

Third place was taken out by Hamish Rooney and Ben O’Kane from St Bede’s meanwhile Hamish Paton received FMG Junior Young Farmer competitor of the day.

“Having the opportunity to do this sort of event is pretty neat in itself. It was great to give it a go and learn some things so we can come back next year and hopefully improve again,” said Hamish.

The AgriKids competition for primary school-aged children also ran alongside the teenage and senior contests. From obstacle courses to changing a tyre the competition was full of learning opportunities for the competitors and put their teamwork to the test.

A trio from North Loburn School were crowned the winners, made up by John Lundy, Cate Ambury and Regan Herlihy.

The trio excelled at the obstacle course race and feel pretty pleased with their win. They learned a lot about the seasonal goings on on-farm through the Beef + Lamb NZ module and are excited for the Grand Final in July.

Second place was awarded to Harry Glasson, Finn Fricker and Jack Phlip from Waikari School. 

In third, Jamie Oberholzer, Keygan Phlip, Skyla Rata-Smith also from Waikari School.

The top three teams have all been invited to the Grand Final in Christchurch in July where they will compete against 21 other teams from across the country.