Methven club named Young Farmers' best

Methven Young Farmers Club members Ezekiel Turner, Campbell Somerville, Tara Campbell, Gemma Bell and Jeff Haldane. Photo: Supplied

The Methven Young Farmers Club was named Best NZ Young Farmers Club at the FMG Young Farmer of the Year awards in Invercargill recently.

The club was Aorangi region's largest NZ Young Farmers Club, and won the national award for its work in the community.

It was one of seven clubs vying for the sought-after accolade.

''We're rapt. Every member in our club has played a part in this win,'' chairwoman Gemma Bell said.

Methven Young Farmers has about 40 members who have a diverse range of careers.

''We have members who shepherd up in the high country, dairy farmers, arable farmers, rural professionals and recent university graduates,'' she said.

''But you don't have to be a farmer to join.''

The motivated members enjoy giving back to the community; they gave up their time for projects and raise money for local programmes.

''We've done gardening work at Methven House (an aged care facility), helped out at the A&P show and volunteered after the Kaikoura earthquake,'' Gemma said.

The club's members were also passionate about helping to inspire the next generation of food producers.

''A few of us spoke at a careers day at Mt Hutt College about the diverse career opportunities available in the primary industries,'' she said.

''I have a really enjoyable job as chair. It's the members of the club which really drive everything we do,'' said Gemma.

Last year two of the club's members, Sarah Tait and Sam Robinson, received NZ Young Farmers Excellence Awards.

Sam, 27 at the time, made a significant impact in the mental health and wellbeing landscape for rural youth, after he bravely shared his own depression struggles. The Lincoln University student outlined his struggles in a Facebook post, which set in motion a positive chain of events that led to young people speaking up more and NZ Young Farmers taking a lead role in highlighting and working on depression. Sam used his experience to help others.

Sarah, was a PGG Wrightson agronomist, and initiated the 'Empty Plate Project' to encourage young people into the agri-food sector.

Sarah targeted 5000 students in Canterbury to invite to submit a project describing global food security and New Zealand's role for competition.

The 26-year-old spent time talking in schools and has been identified as a future leader.

She had earlier represented New Zealand at a Food Security Conference in Canberra and was awarded a Prime Minister's scholarship that enabled her to travel to Colombia.

-The Methven Young Farmers Club meets the first Monday each month at The Blue Pub, Methven, from 7pm.

Central Rural Life