KEY POINTS:
His idea of a perfect date involves having a few beers while listening to stories from All Black legend Colin Meads at his local rugby club, Waitete.
After this is a trip to a local restaurant in Te Kuiti for a steak dinner with his ideal woman, "a
chick who isn't scared to eat a pie, or have a handle of Waikato at 10am with the boys on Sunday".
"They should really be themselves, not too girly but not too manly either, there should be a good balance."
Meet Charlie Taituha, a veterinary technical field representative from Piopio in the King Country, who is among the "attractions" at this year's Fieldays, which starts today at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton.
The four-day farming event is the biggest of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, mainly because it falls during the lowest ebb of productivity, allowing farmers to take a break.
From humble beginnings when 10,000 people visited the inaugural event at the Te Rapa Racecourse in 1969, this year's Fieldays are expected to pull in more than 125,000 people to its more than 1000 exhibitions.
Mr Taituha, 22 and a former hooker with the Waitete club in Te Kuiti, is among eight rural Romeos gunning for the title of Fieldays Rural Bachelor of the Year.
The contestants are your average Kiwi blokes, who hail from rural backgrounds throughout the country and face performing a number of feats showcasing their farming skills to win the Golden Gumboot trophy and a share of over $30,000 worth of prizes.
"We have to make a dress for a cheerleader - I think it's a farm orientated dress, so that should be interesting," says Mr Taituha, who is single and hasn't had a girlfriend "for a couple of months at least".
"We have to cook a meal too. Anything to do with barbecues and I should be sweet. I'm not too flash on wine selections though."
Also under the microscope - before they are auctioned off on Friday evening - will be contestants' chainsawing ability, farm fashion sense, fencing prowess and how well they can handle a digger.
"I think we have to use the digger to place an egg in a cup or something like that." says Mr Taituha.
"I had a bit of practice at a mate's place with his digger and a few beers over the weekend. Should be sweet, mate."
Fieldays spokeswoman Nicole Foster said the rural bachelors showdown was one of the big drawcards at the event, which last year resulted in sales of more than $320 million.
"It's been really popular, especially with the ladies," she said.
"We've noticed their attendance has crept up and up over the past few years to the point where they're almost half of all attendees."