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It’s in the family for new A&P Association President

It’s in the family for new A&P Association President

Sheep and beef farmer Warrick James has been elected as President of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association for 2016 at the Annual General Meeting at Riccarton Park Racecourse on 30 March.

Based in Central Canterbury near Glentunnel, Mr James was confirmed as President of the 154th Canterbury A&P Show in front of outgoing President Nicky Hutchinson and Association Members.

“It means a lot to be President of the Canterbury A&P Association. We host the largest and most prestigious Show in the country – it really is the pinnacle of the A&P movement. Having been involved from a young age with my family and seeing my own children take part over the years just makes this even more special.”

Mr James’ involvement with the Show began as a schoolboy when he started showing beef cattle and wool at Canterbury and other local shows with his family. Along with exhibiting at Shows his whole life, his commitment as a volunteer has been impressive.

At age 18 Mr James joined the Malvern A&P Association Committee before going on to be President of that Association in 2001. That same year he joined the General Committee of the Canterbury A&P Association starting as Youth Section Convenor. Mr James then went on to head the Beef Cattle Committee and later became Chair of the entire Cattle Committee encompassing beef, cattle, alpaca and more recently the popular Heartland Bank Young Auctioneers Competition. Mr James has also taken a keen interest in supporting the woodchopping section of the Show in recent times.

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Mr James, along with wife CeCe and their three young adult children Phoebe, Duncan and Bridget, call “Flagpole” in the Selwyn Gorge home. The family moved to the 1300-hectare hill country property running sheep, beef and a carbon forest in 2010. They have a Limousin cattle and Perendale sheep stud named “Ben More” after the Station at Springfield where Mr James grew up.

Running the family business along with his President’s duties will make for a busy year for Mr James with board meetings, sub-committee meetings, general committee meetings, Association events and working bees all on the cards over the next 12 months.

“I’m very lucky to have the support of my wife and children who are ready and willing to take on extra duties both at the Show and on the farm to help with the workload over the coming year.”

Continuing to grow youth sections and finding ways to involve commercial farmers in the Show are both top priorities for Mr James in his year as President.

“The RAS Youth Steer Competition was introduced in 2015 and is a great way to involve young people that are not part of a stud. Looking to the future we hope to extend this even further as we investigate ways to incorporate commercial farming exhibits in the sheep and cattle sections at the Show. It’s all about the Association evolving with the industry and finding ways to get rural people from all parts of the sector involved and engaged with the Show.

“This can only benefit the Show as the rural element is the backbone of this fantastic event. It’s what keeps bringing our urban counterparts back year after year and that’s what we all love most about this Show: the country comes to town and the whole community gets together to celebrate the best this region has to offer.”

Also elected at the recent Annual General meeting were Peter Gilbert (Ashburton) Senior Vice-President and Tim Black (Timaru) as Junior Vice-President.

The 2016 Canterbury A&P Show will be held Wednesday 9 to Friday 11 at ASB Agricultural Park in Christchurch. It’s the largest A&P Show in the country attracting 100,000 people, over 6500 livestock, equestrian and feature competition entries and over 500 trade exhibitors.

ENDS

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