First Young Farmers finalist

Douglas secured his spot at the ANZ Young Farmer Contest Grand Final in Auckland on May 1-18 and took home the winner's prize pack valued at $9000.

Douglas had to earn his win against seven other strong contenders. David Kidd from the Helensville Young Farmers Club placed second, Benson Horsford of the Whangarei Young Farmers Club in third, and Charlie Barr came in fourth, also from the Whangarei Young Farmers Club.

The challenges were each won by the top four contestants. The winner, Douglas succeeded at the Lincoln University Agri-grow Challenge. Kidd won the Ravensdown Agri-skills Challenge, Horsford took out the Silver Fern Farms Agri-sport Challenge, and Miss Barr won the AGMARDT Agri-business Challenge.

Douglas, a 29-year-old dairy farmer from Titoki, competed at the Northern Regional Final in 2012 placing second, just missing out on going to the Grand Final.

Douglas says; "I mostly prepared for the evening show by working on my general knowledge skills. Being an all-rounder is important, but you also have to be quick on the buzzer."
He had to battle it out with an employee of his and fellow Whangarei Young Farmers Club member, Jamie Lang.
"We get on pretty well," Douglas says, "I taught him everything he knows, so it wasn't much of a competition!"
Douglas' prize which includes cash components from ANZ and AGMARDT, a Lincoln University Scholarship for an entrepreneurial workshop, quality fertiliser products from Ravensdown, Silver Fern Farms retail products, and a Honda XR125 two-wheeled farm bike.

Prizes for the runners up included cash from ANZ, Ravensdown products, a Honda water pump, and outdoor power equipment from Husqvarna. All entrants have the opportunity to apply for one of seven Lincoln University Study Scholarships worth up to $4000 each.

Some keen farmers of the future were also on display at the Barge Park Showgrounds for the TeenAg Regional Final. It was a clean sweep for the Kamo High School competitors as they took out the top three spots. Team Why Not's (Brendon Frost and Antony Clarke) were first followed by the Kam Boys (Andrew Martin and Ethan Carter). Third place went to the Mozzhawks (Aidan Hawker and Sam Moscrip).

The AgriKidsNZ Competition was won by Country Bro's made up of Cara Doggett, Michaela McCracken and James Logue from Rodney College. Second place went to The Mean Green Farming Machine from Okaihau School (Jonty Morgan, Buster Carr and Jacob Cook), they were followed by Waioneke 1 from Waioneke School (Tyler Ross, Hamish Holst and Christopher Hill). The top three teams from TeenAg and AgriKidsNZ are invited to Grand Final in Auckland on May 17.

For more information head to www.youngfarmercontest.co.nz