WAIKATO BAY OF PLENTY AGRI KIDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

A trio from St Mary's Catholic School in Putaruru have been announced as the Waikato Bay of Plenty AgriKids winners.

Called "Mixed Breed", the team was made up by Isaac Farrell, 11, Liam van der Heyden, 12 and Genevieve Farrell, 12.

They have been invited to Christchurch to compete in the Grand Final, along with second place getters from Waikite School and third place, also from St Mary's Catholic School.

Isaac said he's excited to compete in Christchurch after their team "smoked up" against teams from across the region.

"The animal, footprint pest module was the hardest" he said.

Genevieve said she hopes they'll do okay at the Grand Final, after winning the race off by around two minutes.

"The race off was pretty fun," she said.

The contest was held at Saint Pauls Collegiate on Saturday and ran alongside FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year and FMG Young Farmer of the Year (FMG YFOTY) Regional Finals.

Competing in teams of three, AgriKids completed a series of modules hosted by our sponsors before the top seven teams were announced.

From there the top seven teams went head to head in "The Race Off", undertaking a sequence of tasks in a time and points challenge.

'Cream of the Crop' trio, made up by trio Lachlan Woulfe, Max Lang and Siniva Teague from Waikite Valley School in Rotorua came in second place.

Siniva was also awarded the AgriKids Competitor of the Day.

Meanwhile in third place were 'The Cowgirls'- Ava Fladgate, Maeve Pacey and Nellie Jeffares, also from St Mary's Putaruru.

The top two teams for the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year have also been invited to the Grand Final.

The event was sponsored by FMG, Ravensdown, Honda, WorkSafe, PTS, STIHL, Lincoln University, Massey University, Southfuels/Northfuels, Betacraft and New Holland.

AGRIKIDS FULL RESULTS

1st Mixed Breed - Isaac Farrell, Liam van der Heyden and Genevieve Farrell, St Mary's Catholic School Putaruru
2nd Cream of the Crop - Lachlan Woulfe, Max Lang, Siniva Teague, Waikite Valley School
3rd The Cowgirls - Ava Fladgate, Maeve Pacey and Nellie Jeffares, St Mary's Putaruru
AgriKids Competitor of the Day - Siniva Teague

WAIKATO BAY OF PLENTY JR FMG YFOTY WINNERS ANNOUNCED

A duo from Te Awamutu College have taken out the Waikato Bay of Plenty FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year title.

15 year old year 11 students, Alex Fitzgerald and Alex West won the contest held at Saint Pauls Collegiate on Saturday.

In second place were "Rod and Todd"- Luke Farrell and Fergus Casey from Putaruru College.

The competition for students in high school Teen Ag Clubs ran alongside the Waikato Bay of Plenty FMG Young Farmer of the Year (FMG YFOTY) Regional Final.

Both teams have been invited to compete at the Grand Final in Christchurch in July.

Fitzgerald and West said they were shocked by the win and are pumped to be heading to Christchurch.

"I've always wanted to go down south, now I've got an excuse to," West said excitedly.

"It was pretty challenging, especially the quiz that was pretty hard."

It was the second time competing for the duo, who came runner up for Waikato Bay of Plenty in 2018 and 12th overall at the Grand Final.

Fitzgerald was also awarded overall FMG JR FYOTY Competitor of the Year in the 2018 contest.

Competing this year, the pair said they utilised their different strengths, with West having grown up on a dairy farm and Fitzgerald on a sheep and beef farm.

"I've got the drystock farming background, deer and other bits of pieces," Fitzgerald said.

The pair plan to fundraise to get to Grand Final through sourcing sponsors, selling sausage sizzles and a firewood raffle - with firewood season coming up.

11 FMG JR YFOTY teams battled it out in a series of modules hosted by the sponsors.

Points were added up, then the top five teams went head to head in a famous FMG YFOTY style buzzer quiz.

Here A2 managed to crawl ahead, using their shared strengths and knowledge to get the questions right.

The FMG JR YFOTY Competitor of the Day was also awarded to Timothy Lumsden from Hamilton Boys High School.

Teen Ag Clubs are aimed to introduce secondary school aged children to the opportunities available in the ag, food and fibres sector as well as provide leadership opportunities and a support network for students.

The event was sponsored by FMG, Ravensdown, Honda, WorkSafe, PTS, STIHL, Lincoln University, Massey University, Southfuels/Northfuels, Betacraft and New Holland.

FMG JUNIOR YFOTY WAIKATO BAY OF PLENTY FULL RESULTS

1st A2 - Alex Fitzgerald and Alex West, Te Awamutu College
2nd Rod n Todd - Luke Farrell and Fergus Casey, Putaruru College
3rd The Gumboot Gals - Chloe Cole and Nerdia Bateup, Te Kauwhata College
FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year Competitor of the Day - Timothy Lumsden

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