Pupils from Ashburton Intermediate and Hinds School will pit their agricultural skills against scores of primary age school children in the AgriKidsNZ grand final in New Plymouth next month.
The two teams will be up against 19 others vying for the title when the competition starts on July 2.
The event runs alongside the FMG Young Farmer of the Year and FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year grand finals – both also stacked with Mid Canterbury competitors.
The AIS Farmers, made up of Year 8 pupils Flynn Lovett, Flynn Chudleigh and Flynn Tait of Ashburton Intermediate and Hinds Hustlers, is made up of Year 8 pupils, Ebony Groves and James Sheppard and Year 7 pupil Sophie Sheppard of Hinds School.
James and Ebony are veterans among the youngsters as they represented Hinds at the grand final in Invercargill last year.
All the pupils said they were drawn to AgriKidsNZ because of the team work, their love of farming and ‘it’s lots of fun’.
‘‘We are working together doing what we love,” Flynn Lovett said.
In preparation for the final both teams have been searching relevant websites, visiting farms, talking to businesses about health and safety, and generally grilling parents for information .
A week before the competition the teams are given a tips and tricks sheet to aid their preparation.
‘‘Once they release all the information about a week before we go up, that’s when we can dive deeper into what we need to know,” Flynn Lovett said.
In order to get to the grand final, the teams travelled to Woodbury for the Aorangi Regional final where they completed a series of modules during the day.
One standout for the Flynns’ was the motorbike challenge.
‘‘We had to check over a motorbike to make sure it was safe to ride. Check the oil, fuel, clutch and pumped up tyres,” Flynn Chudleigh said.
James Sheppard said this team excelled in the rock module set by Lincoln University.
‘‘You had to know all your igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, where they belong in the earth and where they came from,” James said.
While for the Flynns, they made light work of a tent challenge.
Flynn Tait said they had to put a bushbuck tent up, take it down and put it away in the bag.
‘‘We got the fastest time of like 56 seconds, no other team had been able to take it down and we put it up, took it down and folded it into the bag with a minute to spare.”
All six contestants have spent their time fundraising and visiting potential sponsors.
Ebony said the Hinds Hustlers have raised money by picking and selling pine cones, holding a firewood raffle and selling burgers on Fridays at school.
Both teams have amassed an impressive list of sponsors, with Ashburton Intermediate offering gold and silver options.
Intermediate school principal Brent Gray said it was great to have pupils who represented the school doing something they were keen on.
‘‘I have managed to get to a few finals days in the past and it’s a really good place for people to see the rural sector in action, Gray said.
‘‘They can learn how farming has changed so much since we where young and how multifaceted and skilled farmers have to be.”
Regional competition
Running in combination with the AgrikKidsNZ final is the FMG Region-off. Voting for the Aorangi region can be done via fmg.co.nz/campaigns/region-off/aorangi The winning region receives $5000 to donate to a local cause of their choice, and $1000 to be split between the AgriKidsNZ contestants. Voters also go in the draw to win a $500 Bonfire Giftcard. Voting closes 5pm, July 4.
Other grand finalists from Mid Canterbury:
Dairy farmer Jack Taggart of Hinds Young Farmers is representing the Aorangi region in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand final.
Taggart, 27, won his first regional final after six attempts.
He has a background in agriculture, farm management and agribusiness, and has worked across farming, agronomy and irrigation technology.
Taggart is passionate about continuous learning and values the strong connections and opportunities Young Farmers provides.
Outside of farming, he enjoys coaching squash and taking on new challenges.
In the FMG Junior Young Farmer grand final are: Aorangi representatives Emma Kinzett and Meghan Nish from Mount Hutt College; and Niamh Hawe and Libby Jackson from Ashburton College.
And Tasman representatives Charlie Clark from Mount Hutt College and Leo Acland from Christ’s College; and Tabitha White and Mikayla Molloy from Rangi Ruru.
