Last Grand Finalist to be found this weekend

April 25th is many things this year. As always it’s the day we remember those that fought for our country when we observe ANZAC Day, it’s also Easter Monday, the Mackenzie A&P show and the last Regional Final for The National Bank Young Farmer Contest in 2011.

All the Grand Finalists have been found bar one: It’s finally Aorangi’s turn to find who will represent them at Grand Final in Masterton from June 29th. The first step is the Practical Day at the Mackenzie A&P Showgrounds, followed by the Evening Show at the Mackenzie Community Centre from 7pm.

Eight of the top Young Farmers from the Region will showcase their practical and theoretical skills in The Ultimate Rural Challenge on Monday. Among the Contestants are some familiar faces: Andrew “Captain” Scott from the Mackenzie Club brings a lot of experience, this will be his fourth Regional Final and the 29 year old sheep and beef farmer will be hoping to qualify for his second Grand Final in a row.

To keep the judges and officials on their toes, another Andrew Scott will be competing in Mackenzie too. 28 year old Andrew “Scotty” Scott from the Pendarves Club is competing in his second Regional Final. Scotty was fourth last year and will be looking to improve.

Pendarves Club has a couple of other strong contenders this year: 25 year old Will Grayling will be competing in his third Regional Final; he currently manages a 220ha dairy farm with 840 cows and three full time staff. Twenty nine year old cropping farmer Phil Campbell is also a member of the Pendarves Club. He hasn’t competed at Regional Final before, but has experience organising which will definitely count.

Jared Clarke from Five Forks Club is competing in his second Regional Final; he’s an Assistant Farm Manager milking 830 cows. He’ll be joined by fellow Five Forks member, Scott Kingan, a 25 year old cropping farmer who last competed at Regional Final level in 2008.

Ben Jaunay (27) Chairman of the Milford/Clandeboye Club is a lower order sharemilker; he’s entered at District Level several times and will be looking to make an impact in his first Regional Final. First time competitor 23 year old Phil Wilson rounds off the field; he’s also a lower order sharemilker and a member of the Glenavy Club.

The Practical Day starts early with the AGMARDT Agri-business Challenge and then the action kicks off from 8am as the Contestants compete in the Ravensdown Agri-skills Challenge. Here they must complete eight thirty minute modules that will test a range of practical farming skills. They will also be grilled by a panel of judges during the Lincoln University Agri-growth Challenge. ANZAC Day will be commemorated during the lunch break before the fast paced Isuzu Agri-sports starts at 1pm.

From there the Contestants will get tidied up before the Evening Show at the Mackenzie Community Centre. The winners of the day’s Challenges will be announced and Contestants will pick up extra points through question buzzer rounds and by delivering speeches.

At the culmination of the Evening Show the Regional Final winner will be announced and will receive a prize pack valued at over $10,000. The prize pack includes a Honda XR125 two-wheeled farm bike valued at $4000, a $1500 Lincoln University Scholarship, $1000 cash and $500 towards a capability development programme from AGMARDT, a weekend hunting trip courtesy of Isuzu valued at $1000, Ravensdown quality fertiliser products worth $1000, a range of Swanndri clothing valued at $750 and The National Bank will provide $500 cash.

A weekend of aftershocks in Christchurch has provided a reminder, for those that live outside of the city, of the constant battle faced by Christchurch residents after the February 22 quake. For those wishing to contribute to the recovery effort the Road to Recovery Auction will take place once more at the Evening Show. Up for grabs is a two-wheeled farm bike thanks to Honda; other goods have also been donated by The National Bank, Echo and Ravensdown.

The Contestants will have the added pressure of being filmed for TVNZ 7’s Road to the Young Farmer Final, with the Aorangi episode being screened on June 25th. For those that want to encourage their favourite Contestant, supporters can head to www.goyoungfarmer.co.nz and leave a message of support for their favourite Contestant.

AgriKidsNZ and TeenAg Competitors will also be on show at the Regional Final. AgriKidsNZ kicks off with their Preliminaries at 10am and the exciting Race-off at 1.45pm. TeenAg will also start at 10am with their Race-off commencing at 2.15pm. The top three teams from both of these events will also be given the chance to head to the Grand Final in Masterton.