A brother-versus-brother clash is shaping up as a sideshow after Canterbury dairy farm manager Peter O’Connor won the Aorangi Young Farmer of the Year competition.
He follows younger brother Nick O’Connor who also gained entry as the Tasman winner in the seven-finalist field for the main act of the national grand final in Timaru in July.
This is the first time siblings are understood to have made the final in a single event.
Peter O’Connor (24) manages a 400-cow dairy farm near Methven, while Nick O’Connor (20) is in his third year studying for a bachelor of agriculture degree at Lincoln University.
The brothers grew up on their family’s 600-cow dairy farm in Westport.
Peter O’Connor surfaced ahead of Aorangi rivals in his fourth attempt at a national berth after a day competing in a range of agricultural challenges at the Ashburton A&P Showgrounds, followed by a buzzer quiz in the evening.
"It’s pretty satisfying to get the win, particularly after my brother got through the other weekend — it’s a relief to join him at the grand final," he said.
The win follows a third in last year’s finals and being named New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year in the national dairy awards.
He said he prepared well for the day, but the competition always had unknown challenges.
"It’s hard not knowing how you’ve gone in anything throughout the day. You might feel like you’ve done a module well, but it’s hard to know how the judges will interpret what you’ve done. I put in a lot more preparation for this year’s regional final.
"Going back through old regional-final questions and talking to more people really paid off."
While Mr O’Connor has yet to plan his grand final approach, he knows he will need to brush up on his sheep knowledge.
"I’m going to need to polish up on that and my shearing skills.
"I’ll be working on broadening my knowledge as much as I can as there are a lot of different things you can get asked."
The brothers are keeping under wraps whether there will be a team effort for the O’Connor family in preparing for the final.
"We’ll probably try and do some prep together, but I’m not sure what Nick’s thoughts on that are.
"We’ll probably help each other out a bit, but not show a full hand."
Aorangi runner-up was James Bell from Glenavy Young Farmers and third was Jess Cunliffe from Pendarves Young Farmers.
Jack Foster and James Clark won the Aorangi Junior Young Farmers of the Year for the second year in a row. Runners-up were Ruby Shortus and Maddie Matthews from Waimate High School.
The trio of Cameron Siegert, Leo Acland and Jack Foley from Waihi School were the Aorangi AgriKidsNZ winners. Runners-up were Flynn Wallace, Charlie Clark and Georgia Heaven from Mt Somers Springburn and third was Santi Zimmermann, Fergus Lane and Cameron Lane from Waimate High School.
