Listen to July 11th 2010 to hear about this contest four years ago.
The Young Farmer of the Year contest started 45 years ago in 1969. Each year, one person wins and receives some very expensive prizes. The winner this year was David Kidd, a farm manager of a 550 hectare sheep and beef farm in Northland. He is aged 30 and has a degree in Agriculture. His father was placed third in this contest in 1984 and David said he hoped he would be able to do better than his father.
The final contest takes place over three days. 56 people started in the competitions several months ago in the 7 regions. The winner of each region came to Lincoln University in Christchurch for the final contest which started last Thursday. Many of their supporters came with them to watch.
It is an exhausting competition, testing their knowledge of animal health, farm machinery and ability to build fences, make a dog kennel, chop wood, use a chain saw, plough a field, auction an expensive animal and many other skills. They are judged on speed, skill and safety.
They also have to know a lot about farm budgets, marketing and working with other farm staff. They also have to make a speech. They are given a choice of topics and a short time to prepare a speech, then they are judged on their speaking ability and what they know. The final contest was last night in front of a television audience. It was a quiz show which tested not only their farming knowledge but also general knowledge.
There are many good prizes for winners of each section but the winner receives prizes worth nearly $70,000. They include $10,000 in cash from the main sponsor, the ANZ bank, scholarships, power equipment, a Honda ATV (farm vehicle) and other farm products.
Vocabulary
- contest – competition
- exhausting – very, very tiring (Note: the competition is exhausting / tiring, the competitors are exhausted/ tired)
- plough – a machine to turn the soil before planting
- budget – how much money they can spend