On Thursday the 5th July over 1000 people from around the country descended on Invercargill in preparation for the 10th TeenAg & Agri Kids Grand Final, which was held alongside the 50th Young Farmer of the Year Competition.

Following an opening parade on the streets of Invercargill, the TeenAg Competition kicked off that evening with the 14 teams (28 contestants) undertaking a 1 hour Year One University exam at Southland Boys High, this was followed by a sponsors evening with some very nervous parents and teachers who have helped the contestants prepare for months in anticipation for the finals.

On a grey & wet Friday morning, we all headed to Donavon Park for the practical aspect of the competition, which saw the contestants have 2 hours to build a farmlet which included a working center pivot and functioning chicken coop, complete a five minute speech and seven 15 min modules which included grading Velvet, driving a tractor, undertaking a Logging challenge via a simulator, completing various soil samples and our own Health & Safety module.

This year we enlisted the help of St. John’s Cadet Kaiya Ford (16) who with over 8 years experience developed a very realistic First Aid based module which confronted the contestants with a patient who had fallen from height with a large laceration on her arm which required immediate first aid. This truly tested the knowledge and skills of the teams competing and was well received by those watching the event. A big thank you to both Kaiya, our patient Teagan Blakely (cadet) and the St John’s for there help at the event.

The day for the TeenAg Contestants ended with the top 5 teams from over the two days  going head to head in a quick fire buzzer round and having there knowledge put to the test.

Meanwhile, as this was happening our two Southland based Account Managers, Stefan Cooper and Peter Freeman where busy judging the AgriKids (primary school students) through the Safe Delivery Site Compliance module, both were impressed by the knowledge and understanding these youngsters had for the various hazards, and feel the messages of safety is really be understood by the younger generations. These contestants also undertook an exam, a head to head challenge and seven 10 min modules over the course of the day.

The competition cultivated in an awards evening hosted by Te Radar back at Southland Boys High, with over 400 people in attendance where the individual winners of the various challenges and events were honored along announcing the overall winners of the event. Congratulations to all the winners, it was a fantastic effort.

AgriKids Winners
1st | AIS Fencers – Austin Watson, Henry Gray, Tim Connelly-Whyte –Ashburton Intermediate School
2nd| High Country Legends – Eliane Craig, Charlotte Hurste, Ruby Shortus – Waimate High School
3rd | Tinui Whips – Jock Johnson, Patrick Wellbrock, Max Williams – Tinui School

TeenAg Winners
1st | St Bede’s College – Angus Grant & Nick O’Connor – St Bede’s College
2nd| Napier Boys’ High School – Matthew Halford & Finnigan Beamish
3rd| Fielding High School – David Reesby & Levi Stewart

FMG New Zealand Young Farmers of the Year Winner
Logan Wallace, Southland & Otago Region

For more information on TeenAg check out their website