Napier duo take out East Coast FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year

NZ Young Farmers CEO Lynda Coppersmith, left, presents Year 12 students Guy Von Dadelszen and Tristan Peeti-Webber as the East Coast FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year. Photo / Supplied

A duo from Napier Boys' High School have taken out the title for East Coast FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year.

Year 12 students Guy Von Dadelszen and Tristan Peeti-Webber were the best of the bunch topping the points table.

The contest for high school students in Teen Ag Clubs was held at the Central Hawke's Bay A&P Showgrounds in Waipukurau on Saturday, running alongside the East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year (FMG YFOTY) Regional Finals.

Runner up FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year was awarded to Thomas Fountaine and Jock Bourke from Rathkeale College.

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 another team from Napier Boys' High School, made up by Ryan Redpath and Kieran McKenzie.

For the contest, the pairs tackled eight theoretical and practical modules hosted by sponsors before the top five teams went into "the face off" – a famous YFOTY buzzer styled quiz.

Modules in the past have included animal anatomy, fencing, meat cut I.D, gun safety, equine, agronomy, feed budgeting, chainsaw assembly and more.

For 16 year old Von Dadelszen, it will be his second shot at the national title after coming second place at the 2019 Grand Final.

"Hopefully we'll go all right in the practical modules with some Hanson products or fencing, things like that so we're hoping they're in the Grand Final," he said.

Peeti-Webber has also competed three years ago and said the pair will start studying and brushing up on their knowledge to prepare for Grand Final.

"Hopefully our teacher Rex Newman will also get us down to work so we'll do some stuff there as well," Von Dadelszen said.

Teen Ag Clubs aim to introduce teenagers to the agriculture, food and fibre sector – from farming and growing, to fishing and horticulture and everything else in between.

Joseph Watts will be the man to beat next year after taking out the FMG Young Farmer of the Year East Coast Regional Final. Photo / Supplied

History repeated itself at the main event of the FMG Young Farmer of the Year East Coast Regional Final, with Joseph Watts taking out the title.

It was the second year in a row the 29-year-old PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative from Raetihi had been crowned East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year.

Greytown contract milker Hamish Hammond, 29, came in second place for the region, also for the second year in a row.

Third place East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year (FMG YFOTY) was awarded to first time competitor and veterinarian, Georgina Campbell.

Watts takes home $12,000 in prizes, and said he was excited to get another shot at the Grand Final after coming runner-up to James Robertson in 2019 by just half a point.