David Reesby, 21, has secured himself a spot at the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final.

David, a Marton Young Farmers member, is second in charge on his family’s dairy farm near Oroua and was announced as the winner of the 2022 Taranaki Manawatu FMG Young Farmer of the Year on Saturday night.

It was a clean sweep for Marton Young Farmers as both the runner-up and third-place winners are members of the club.

Land management advisor Brad Beatson, 30, was named as runner-up. Meanwhile, veterinarian Georgina Campbell, 31, came in third.

The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Regional Final was held on Saturday at the Feilding High School Dairy Farm.

The Taranaki Manawatu Regional Final Organising Committee was made up of local NZ Young Farmers members and was led by Georgia Young and Kate Stewart. The team put on an outstanding day, challenging the eight Contestants to a range of tasks ensuring to test their ability and knowledge of the food and fibre sector.

Reflecting on the day, David was thankful for all the hard work the convenors and volunteers put in behind the scenes. He explained he was shocked to see his name at the top of the leaderboard before the quiz.

“I didn’t expect to be that high up the list, I was pretty stoked and pretty proud to be up there, I knew I had to go well in the quiz to keep ahead of Brad and Georgina.”

In the lead-up to the Grand Final, David will be putting in the hard yards, “you don’t know what to expect in the Grand Final, so will be giving it my all and will be trying to study hard,” he explained.

The contest is based on four pillars – agri-skills, agri-business, agri-sports, and agri-knowledge.

David Reesby will battle it for the title of FMG Young Farmer of the Year at the Grand Final in Whangarei this July against six other regional final winners from across the country.

New Zealand Young Farmers Chief Executive Lynda Coppersmith said the stakes for 2022 were incredibly high being the third contest season impacted by the global pandemic.

"Entries for FMG Young Farmer of the Year were up 30% this year despite the uncertainty of COVID which is a credit to all our amazing volunteers, members, sponsors, and staff who put this contest together," she said.

"My gratitude for everyone's efforts extends beyond words and I am really proud to see how everyone has worked together to deliver another season, to pivot and adapt to new challenges including the red light framework."

"The calibre of competitors at each Regional Final is the highest I have seen it and is an extraordinary showcase of the skills and knowledge needed to be involved in the primary industries in this day and age."

"Our competitors represent the full diversity of the primary industries and the array of opportunities available and goes to show that New Zealand Young Farmers' members really are the best and brightest."

The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Contest Series would not be possible without support from its family of sponsors: FMG, Ravensdown, Worksafe, Ministry for Primary Industries, Environmental Protection Authority, Honda, STIHL, Massey University, Lincoln University, New Holland and PTS Logistics.

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