Seventh Grand Finalist Confirmed in FMG Young Farmer of the Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 17-04-2016

Athol New is the seventh and final Grand Finalist to be named in the 2016 FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
Athol is a 30 year old Dairy Business Manager from Rakaia, who took first place at the Aorangi Regional Final in Ashburton on 16 April 2016.

Mr New went home with a prize pack worth over $10,000 including cash, scholarships and products and services from FMG, Massey University, Ravensdown, Meridian Energy, AGMARDT, Silver Fern Farms, Honda, STIHL and Vodafone. Athol also won the Massey University Agri-growth Challenge and AGMARDT Agri-business Challenge.

Competing in his second Regional Final, Athol looks to take out the FMG Young Farmer of the Year title in 2016.

The Grand Final will take place in Timaru, 7 – 9 July, where the 7 finalists will battle it out for the Grand Champion’s title. This year's Grand Final prize pack is $162,200.

The Ashburton Regional Final featured a strong group of contestants with plenty of knowledge and talent on display. The eight contestants were put through their paces in a variety of challenging modules touching on all aspects of farming from practical hands-on tasks to theory and business components.

Second place went to Sam Bryan (30) from the Foothills Club, who also won the Meridian Energy Agri-knowledge Challenge.

Third place went to Toby How (29) from the Milford Club, who also won the Ravensdown Agri-skills Challenge and Silver Fern Farms Agri-sports Challenge

The 2016 FMG Young Farmer of the Year features seven Regional Finals culminating in the Grand Final.

Grand Finalists for 2016
• Northern – Jake Thomson (27)
• Waikato/Bay of Plenty – Calvin Ball (25)
• Taranaki/Manawatu – Pete Fitz-Herbert (30)
• East Coast – Tony Dowman (30)
• Tasman – James Hoban (30)
• Otago/Southland – Logan Wallace (26)
• Aorangi – Athol New (30)

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