Top young farmer eyes sharemilking job
The 2024 FMG Young Farmer of the Year George Dodson is hoping that the win is a stepping stone to his dream job of sharemilking next season.
Douglas McGregor is the seventh grand finalist to be named in the 2015 ANZ Young Farmer Contest.
The thirty-year-old dairy farmer took first place at the Northern Regional Final in Dargaville on Saturday 18 April after a very tense and closely scored competition.
McGregor went home with a prize pack worth over $10,000 including cash, scholarships, and products and services.
This was McGregor's second attempt at regional final level of the ANZ Young Farmer Contest. He is a very active member of the Bay of Island Young Farmers Club and is the Northern Region vice-chairman. McGregor was competing against 26-year-old Anna Simpson, who doubles as the winner's partner.
Second place went to 28-year-old herd manager, Guy Bakewell, of the Bay of Islands Young Farmers Club. He took home $2,900 worth of prizes. Bakewell also took home top honours in both the Lincoln University Agri-Growth Challenge and the Ravensdown Agri-Skills Challenge.
Third place went to Whangarei Young Farmers Club member, Jake Thompson (26). Thompson won the AGMARDT Agri-Business Challenge. Fourth place went to Colin Beazley (28) from the Kaipara Young Farmers Club – Colin was called up to compete a week before the regional final after one Contestant broke his collarbone.
The Silver Fern Farms Agri-Sports Challenge winner was 26-year-old Kelvin Meek of the Franklin Young Farmers Club.
Douglas McGregor is the last Grand Finalist selected for the 2015 ANZ Young Farmer Contest. He will join six Contestants from around the country in Taupo 2 – 4 July at Grand Final in a bid to take home the title of 2015 ANZ Young Farmer Contest Grand Champion.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.
Graduates of a newly-updated Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) course are taking more value than ever from the programme, with some even walking away calling themselves the “farm CFO”.
Meet the Need, a farmer-led charity, says food insecurity in New Zealand is dire, with one in four children now living in a household experiencing food insecurity, according to Ministry of Health data.
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
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