Year 13 Otago Boys’ High School students Shamus Young, of Tapanui, and Hayden Drummond, of Edendale, formed a two-man team to take the title of FMG Junior Young Farmers of the year.
The duo worked hard to win the regional competition held in February, knowing victory would seriously increase their workload.
"I was doing an extra two hours’ study a day for it," fourth-generation sheep and grain farmer Shamus said.
"There’s so much knowledge involved in farming and they don’t give you any hints until two weeks out from the competition."
Shamus and Hayden arrived in Hamilton to square off against 12 other teams this month.
Exams and essays covering topics from ecology, horticulture, stock fertility and finance were followed by a gruelling series of practical modules including fencing, trough installation, lambing simulation and tractor use.
"Presenting our five-minute speech on the future of farming was tougher than writing it," fourth-generation sheep and beef farmer Hayden said.
"And the section on the dairying, since neither of us are dairy farmers."
The pair’s performance put them comfortably into the top five, who fought it out in a final quiz in which Shamus and Hayden prevailed as overall junior winners of the 56th New Zealand Young Farmer of the Year.
Both young men were quick to praise the support of their families, sponsors and Tapanui’s Blue Mountain College agriculture teacher, Kirsten McIntyre.
"They put in so much effort, like real training for the practical modules, and there’s so much to study until you get the hints," Miss McIntyre said.
"We got in touch with every rural professional we could think of, from vets to bankers, and got them to pose 20 or 30 questions to help prepare.
"We’re going to need the brightest and best to keep farming in New Zealand as efficient and effective as we know it, so the future looks a lot brighter if we can keep people like Shamus and Hayden in farming."
