It was a case of fourth and final time lucky for Tasman FMG Young Farmer of the Year, Jonny Brown, who took out the title last night.  

The 31 year old dairy farm manager and Dunsandel Young Farmer has been named as the second FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final qualifier for season 54.  

Deer and dairy farmer Andrew Allan, 21, came runner up, meanwhile Lincoln University student Archie Woodhouse, 20, came in third place.  

The Tasman FMG Young Farmer of the Year Regional Final was held on Saturday in Springston.

Brown manages a dairy farm for Dairy Holdings Ltd which milks 1,300 cows and said he was struggling to comprehend the win.  

"Each year my preparation hasn't been great so I need to rectify that for Grand Final," he laughed.  

The father of two has struggled in previous years with the head to heads, naming that aspect of the contest his biggest challenge.  

"I'm not creative at all so I have to figure it out. Luckily the young pups didn't know my weakness so I managed to pick up a few good points by finishing first with a pretty horrible chair and putting some pressure on the others." 

Extremely passionate about the dairy industry, Jonny has spent his career working through the ranks of dairying, contract milking and farm management mainly around Canterbury since graduating Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce and Land Valuation.   

Looking ahead to Grand Final in Whangarei in July, Jonny will be utilising his friends to test him on all aspects of the primary industries.  

"There's a lot of hard work ahead, I'm going to have to polish up on a lot of things," he said.  

"Once you've got a taste of being near the top you've got to climb that mountain." 

The contest is based on four pillars – agri-skills, agri-business, agri-sports and agri-knowledge.  

New Zealand Young Farmers Chief Executive Lynda Coppersmith said the stakes for 2022 were incredibly high being the third contest season impacted by the global pandemic.    

"Entries for FMG Young Farmer of the Year were up 30% this year despite the uncertainty of COVID which is credit to all our amazing volunteers, members, sponsors and staff who put this contest together," she said.   

"My gratitude for everyone's efforts extends beyond words and I am really proud to see how everyone has worked together to deliver another season, to pivot and adapt to new challenges including the red light framework." 

"The caliber of competitors at each Regional Final is the highest I have seen it and is an extraordinary showcase of the skills and knowledge needed to be involved in the primary industries in this day and age." 

"Our competitors represent the full diversity of the primary industries and the array of opportunities available and goes to show that New Zealand Young Farmers' members really are the best and brightest." 

The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Contest Series would not be possible without support from its family of sponsors FMG, Ravensdown, Worksafe, MPI, EPA, Honda, STIHL, Massey University, Lincoln University, New Holland and PTS Logistics.  

ENDS  

Full results:  

1^ST Jonny Brown, Dunsandel Young Farmers  

2^ND Andrew Allan, Lincoln University Young Farmers  

3^RD Archie Woodhouse, Lincoln University Young Farmers  

Top points agriskills: Jonny Brown  

Top points agri business: Jonny Brown  

Top points agri sports: George Dodson  

Top points agri knowledge: Archie Woodhouse