George Dodson surprised himself after winning the Tasman regional contest, his top of the podium performance earning him one of seven finalist berths in the grand final at Hamilton in July.
The 22-year-old surfaced ahead of a 22-strong field with the challenges kept under wraps before the two-day event began.
He said the win came as a shock, but he was turning his sights now to the final.
Originally from Southland, he is second in charge on a 430-cow dairy farm between Darfield and Dunsandel.
This follows a stint last season managing a larger farm of about 550 cows under the Fortuna Group in Southland.
Being fairly young to take on leadership — and in the competitive arena — does not deter him.
"I seem to [have an old head] apparently, that’s what a few people tell me, but I just love testing myself especially against people older than me who have a bit more experience. I’m probably the young buck that takes on the sort of older heads. I just love growing and learning and doing all new stuff."
Mr Dodson said the first day in the Tasman competition seemed to go his way and that gave him confidence.
Before the event, he was determined to do his best and aim for a top three result, but to go to a grand final was "exceptionally humbling", he said.
Seeing his name at the top of the leaderboard going into the evening’s buzzer quiz session on March 2 was when he felt the pressure come on.
"When I saw that I was leading before the quiz, my family said I went pale white.
"The pressure was on but, luckily, I smashed the quick-fire round so could settle into it a bit more after that."
His preparation for the quiz included his parents drilling questions at him for two and a-half hours after he reached the top eight heading into the second day. Some of those questions popped up in his quick-fire round.
This was his third time competing in the contest and the first time he has earned a place in the final.
The experience had taught him to have a "crack" at everything, rather than do everything perfectly. The second day was practical with the modules, including a dairy farming one, well suited for him.
He is aware events may not fall in his favour in the final and will brush up on his lesser strengths including quizzing mates in the sheep and beef industry for tips.
"I’ve identified probably sheep as one of my biggest weaknesses to be fair, along with technical knowledge for seeds, fertiliser, plants and that sort of thing.
He has also been competing for the title of Canterbury/North Otago dairy manager of the year and with the practical judging ending last week, he can put all his focus into the final. The dairy awards will be announced in Ashburton on March 20.
He hope some of his preparation for that event such as researching new freshwater management policies would intertwine with the Young Farmer contest.
He will also be able to lean on his previous experience in a short, but full, working career.
His parents had an equity partnership in Southland and moved to Rolleston when he was 11.
At 16, he started doing some casual work for his father’s engineering business and tractor work for a farmer client.
Then he carried out relief milking on weekends and before and after school on a dairy farm.
He knows the grand final will increase in intensity and he plans to cary out comprehensive preparation every day in the lead-up to it.
He says he will do his best but, being so young, knows it will be a good learning and networking experience for potentially future appearances.
His career goals were to progress in dairying.
He took a lesser role in Canterbury this season to be closer to his family and friends, but also to work closer with an owner-operator who could act as a mentor.
"Now that I’ve got some experience, I was looking at the farm owner determining what opportunities they could give me in the future as well as building that relationship with them.
"His farm is really high performing and he gets good output out of cows and is a really good operator who’s worked his way up the industry and own his own farm so I can learn a lot from him."
Making his debut in the Young Farmer contest was runner-up George Letham, 26, a member of the Waihora Banks Peninsula Young Farmer Club.
In third place was Eddie Millichamp, 20, representing Lincoln Young Farmers.
The Tasman Junior Young Farmer of the Year title went to Mikayla Molloy and Tabitha White, from Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, followed by Connor Carroll and Oliver Carter, from St Bede’s College.
Seddon School’s Pippa Muir, Isabella Pitts and Emma March were the region’s AgriKidsNZ champions followed by runners-up Liam Underwood, Manawa Doonan and Fred Maher, also from Seddon School, and third were Charlotte Craw, Jess Thompson and Hayley Shannon, from Akaroa Area School.
