The 50:50 sharemilker from Chesterfield, near Kumara, won his second consecutive regional title after a day of practical and theory challenges culminating in an agri-knowledge quiz. There were seven other competitors.
It means Wiffen, who was third in the 2017 Grand Final in Feilding, will have another crack at the national title in Invercargill in July.
“I’m stoked to be heading to grand final again. It’s an amazing experience,” Andrew told the crowd at the regional event.
“It’ll be a chance for me to rectify errors I made last year.”
“I’d love to be the 50th FMG Young Farmer of the Year, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work to reach that goal,” he said.
Wiffen won almost $12,000 of prizes, including an XR150 Honda farm bike.
On his way to the overall regional title, Wiffen won the Ravensdown Agri-Skills Challenge, the AGMARDT Agri-Business Challenge and the Meridian Energy Agri-Knowledge Challenge.
Second place went to Culverden drystock farmer Jono Satterthwaite in his first regional final.
Dunsandel farm consultant Simon Ferguson won third place and the Massey University Agri-Growth Challenge.
Oxford drystock and cropping farmer Roscoe Taggart won the Agri-Sports Challenge.
LIC farm solutions manager Vanessa Robinson won the award for highest-placed woman contestant.
