Six young fruit growers from orchards across the Bay of Plenty are sharpening their pruning shears in preparation for today's Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Grower competition.
The competitors would battle it out on June 22 in a series of theoretical and practical challenges to take out the title of the region's Young Fruit Grower.
The champion would go on to represent the Bay of Plenty at the national Young Grower of the Year title, hosted by Horticulture New Zealand, on July 19 to 20 in Auckland.
"The Young Fruit Grower competition showcases and celebrates our industry's top young talent each year. We're proud to be supporting the development of our industry's future leaders and see them putting their knowledge and skills to the test," said Doug Brown, Chairman of New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc.
The competition puts contestants through a range of key tests with various challenges from finance and biosecurity exercises to agri-chemical knowledge and operating machinery.