Brothers' bond helps to win title

Winners of the 2016 TeenAg competition Callum (left) and Archie Woodhouse, with Aaron Ford of sponsor Southfuels. PHOTO/Supplied

Aspiring East Coast farmers proved their prowess at the weekend winning the competition at the annual FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest in Timaru.

East Coast participants in the AgriKidsNZ and TeenAg finals, held during the Young Farmer competition, had to compete with other young people from around the country in modules covering everything from first aid and bike safety to backing a quad bike trailer through an obstacle course.

Those in the TeenAg competition also had to sit a written examination, build a mailbox from scratch and assemble their own "farmlet" complete with posts and a gate.

However, for the champions of both competitions, winning was nothing new.

The "prestigious" TeenAg competition was won by Callum and Archie Woodhouse from Rathkeale College in the Wairarapa, who won the regional final in March. Judges said their brotherly bond proved a strong combination which dominated over all the modules they completed.

Will MacDonald and Jamie Arnold from Napier Boys High School were second.

In the AgriKidsNZ grand final for children aged 8 to 14, regional final winners Samantha Marriott, Maddie Taylor and Georgia Higinbottom from Tinui School took out top honours. Judges said the girls looked prepared and excelled at all the modules. They had also taken out the regional final in March.

East Coast again took line honours for the AgriKidsNZ competitor of the year with Tawera Rautahi from Dannevirke South School collecting the highly sought after award. In the TeenAg competition Rebekah Te Rito from Rosehill College was awarded the competitor of the year.

NZ Young Farmers CEO Terry Copeland said the AgriKidsNZ and TeenAg finals were important to the primary industry as they were responsible to introducing the younger generation to agriculture and its exciting possibilities.

"It's very much a hotly contested event with teams coming from all over New Zealand to represent their schools proudly," he said.

"We are thrilled to see the development of these young students particularly those that are beginning to enter the FMG Young Farmer of the Year following their experience in TeenAg competitions."

Winners:

TeenAg: First place - Callum and Archie Woodhouse, Rathkeale College; second place - Will MacDonald and Jamie Arnold, Napier Boys' High School; third place - Grace Moscrip and Andrew Martin, Kamo High School

AgriKids: First place - Samantha Marriott, Maddie Taylor and Georgia Higinbottom, Tinui School; second place - Edmund White, Luke Farrell and Alex Fladgate, St Mary's Putaruru and Putaruru College; third place - Luke Bickley, Adrian Zwagerman and Monty Hopcroft, Southland Boys High School

AgriKid Competitor of the Year: Tawera Rautahi, Dannevirke South School.

TeenAg Competitor of the Year: Rebekah Te Rito, Rosehill College.