Croad holds out tough competition
Monday 14 March 2011, 3:05PM
By NZ Young Farmers
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It came down to the wire at the Civic Theatre Waipukurau on Saturday night. There was just one point in The National Bank Young Farmer Contest East Coast Regional Final: Mike Croad managed to hold out with 210 points over last year’s Grand Finalist Angus Brown who placed second with 209 points.
It was an inversion of last year’s Regional Final and an opportunity for a bit of payback for Mike who missed out on a chance at Grand Final in 2010 after Angus bet him by the same margin: 216 to 215.
This was 29 year old Mike’s third time at Regional Final and that previous experience meant he knew he needed to go into the Evening Show with as many points as possible up his sleeve after the Practical Day at the A&P Showgrounds.
“I think having a bit of experience certainly helped; I know I’m not very strong on the buzzer so I knew I needed to be ahead.”
With Angus coming out of the question rounds with 63 points to Mike’s 32, the point advantage was a successful tactic for Mike.
Mike, a farm manager on a 2500 sheep and beef block, knew that the practical side of the competition was where his strengths lay. This was reflected by him taking out the Isuzu Agri-sport and Ravensdown Agri-skills Challenges; but Mike also won the Lincoln Agri-growth Challenge where contestants are interviewed by a panel of judges.
Mike is still getting his head around being East Coast’s representative at Grand Final in Masterton from June 29th to July 2nd, but is already starting to think ahead.
“My first step is to sit down and recognise my weaknesses and then try and get some help from the professionals in those areas.”
Third place was taken out by 25 year old farm business manager Tony Dowman and Angus’ twin brother, 29 year old Duncan, came in fourth.
The AGMARDT Agri-business section was won by Sean Stafford who works as a Regional Manager for The National Bank.
Not only was a Grand Finalist found at the Evening Show, over $5100 was raised during the Road to Recovery Auction and all proceeds will go to the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Fund.
If you couldn’t make it along to the Regional Final, you’ll have another chance to catch all the action when it screens on TVNZ 7’s Road to the Young Farmer Final on May 28th. In the meantime you can get involved by cheering on your Regional Finalist at www.goyoungfarmer.co.nz by leaving a message of support.
Twenty one year old Henry Reynolds was awarded a Scholarship for Excellence from Lincoln University at the Evening Show. District Finalists are eligible to apply for the scholarship which covers tuition fees for one year’s undergraduate or postgraduate study. Henry completed a Diploma in Agriculture at Lincoln University and plans to use the scholarship to study towards a Diploma in Farm Management in 2012.
The next generation of Young Farmers were also showing off their agricultural skills during the TeenAg Contest. Over 20 teams took part in the competition and were cheered on by an impressive crowd. Dannervirke High School finished first and will be joined at Grand Final by the Stortford Lodge Young Farmers from Lindisfarne College and Napier Girl’s High School, who placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.
AgriKidsNZ was also in full swing with 32 teams competing. First place went to M.I.Splaced from Masterton Intermediate, the Ongaonga Quads and the M.I.Ssiles also from Masterton Intermediate will also be joining their TeenAg counterparts at Grand Final.