Young Farmer of the year grand final

It will be an interesting competition for the O’Connor family from the Westcoast as Nick O’Connor and his older brother Peter, both compete in the Young Farmers grand final competition being held in Timaru on the 6^th - 8^th of July.

Nick, who grew up on the family’s dairy farm south of Westport, is in his third and final year of completing his Bachelor of Agriculture at Lincoln University. He is also the chair for the Lincoln Young Farmers club which is one of the biggest clubs. 20-year-old Nick has worked hard competing in previous Young Farmer competitions to take the title as winner of Tasman Young Farmer of the Year which means he will compete representing Tasman in the grand finale.

“I’m really excited, I might get a bit nervous on the day but for now I’m excited and doing as much preparing as I can.” Nick says.

Peter, Nicks older brother, will be at the competition competing against Nick. Peter is representing the Aorangi Young Farmers (South / North Canterbury.) “He’s really switched on so it will be interesting,” explains Nick “It’s great doing it together and we have been practising quiz questions together.”

The competition is spread over three days and is the culmination of months of preparation, with contestants facing a range of challenges designed to test their skills, knowledge and resilience. “I’ve been learning heaps by working on an innovation project report that is required, writing a speech and making a video,” Nick says

Once Nick completes his Bachelor of Agriculture he has plans to travel to Australia, Canada and Europe before heading back to Canterbury to be involved in the dairy industry. “Last Christmas I spent ten weeks over in Victoria helping with the harvest of barley, wheat and lentils, there was a heap of rain so took us a bit longer. It was good fun and I’m going to go back this year.” He also spent some of the summer just been working on a sheep farm which he looks forward to being part of again via the practical element of his of degree. “Studying has been pretty good, it’s really interesting and each week there is a practical element which I enjoy. We get to do twenty-eight weeks so of practical work and it’s a mix of dairy, sheep and other styles of farming which is great.”

The multiple competitions on offer through the Young Farmers Club are the only competitions available in New Zealand that are not limited to just one sector and focus on the younger age group – 16-31 years old. “They are massive networking and learning events; they are also a show case of what skills the young people in the ag industry have. The whole club has been great helping me prepare, there are some really switched on characters in our club which is great to have.”