Jake Jarman, 24, (pictured) has been crowned FMG Young Farmer of the Year 2021, for the contest’s 53rd season.
The ANZ relationship associate represented the Taranaki-Manawatu region, beating six other grand finalists for the prestigious title at Wigram Airforce Museum in Christchurch on Saturday night.
“Feeling overwhelmed, excited and relieved that it’s over! I’m just also so incredibly thankful to so many people, far too many to name but it’s a huge team of people to pull together this event and a big team behind me to get me here too”.
Jarman said he was determined to give the Grand Final his best shot after initially signing up to the contest to just give it a go.
“I was happy that I gave everything a go to the best of my ability and wanted to be competitive. I loved the practical day, the challenge of having to multitask under time pressure and be a bit strategic.”
He said he never dreamed he’d win the title of FMG Young Farmer of the Year but was immensely proud of the achievement and hoped it would inspire others.
The victory was a culmination of days of grueling practical and technical challenges set out to test the seven Grand Finalists’ skills, knowledge and stamina.
Contestants participated in a technical day, a practical day, speeches, exams and the famous FMG Young Farmer of the Year buzzer quiz.
Jarman won a prize package worth over $75,000 which included a $15,000 cash prize from FMG, a Honda ATV, and a $30,000 package from New Holland.
An Inglewood Young Farmer, Jarman has been the fifth generation to work his family dairy farm, and also worked as a farm systems research graduate with Dairy Trust Taranaki.
“My fellow competitors certainly didn’t make it easy and honestly, I feel like it was anyone’s game for the whole three days. It’s been a privilege getting to know them and to now call them friends”.
Jarman also won the Agribusiness, Agri Sports and Agri Knowledge awards.
Young Farmer of the Year
Joseph Watts was named runner up FMG Young Farmer of the Year, for the second time.
The Tikokino Young Farmer missed out on the title in 2019 by a whisker to James Robertson and qualified for the cancelled 2020 Grand Final.
“It’s hard to compare the 2019 contest with this one, they were such different competitions. Every year it’s such a different competition which is what makes it so hard, it’s one reason I do feel as content as I do about this is knowing that across two very different competitions I still managed to be consistent in my performance”
Once a professional squash player, the PGG Wrightson technical field Representative and East Coast representative also won the Agri Skills Award at the Grand Final.
Community Footprint
Whangarei Young Farmer Calvin Ball, 31, took out third place in the Grand Final and also won the Community Footprint award.
“I put my absolute best into this, I made so many sacrifices and I’m so proud of how I competed, but at the end of the day there was seven amazing competitors, so big ups to Joseph and Jake who pipped me but I’m very grateful and proud of what I’ve achieved during this experience”.
This was the regional sales manager’s second time competing for the prestigious title having previously competed in 2016.
People’s Choice
Kieran McCahon from Waikato/Bay of Plenty was named FMG People’s Choice Winner.
The 53rd FMG Young Farmer of the Year kicked off with a bang on Thursday afternoon where Young Farmers from all around the country invaded the garden city. The New Zealand Army Band set the tone for the opening ceremony and the contest to come, leading a procession of contestants, supporters, sponsors and crew from Park of Remembrance to Riverside Markets.
“To have the whole procession of FMG Young Farmer of the Year, FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year and AgriKidsNZ Grand Finalists from around the country come together for the first time since COVID was a true celebration,” New Zealand Young Farmers chief executive Lynda Coppersmith said.
The FMG Young Farmer of the Year practical day on Friday got off to a very chilly start but contestants hit the ground running and were eager to get stuck into making a mini farm/farmlet.
Throughout the day they had seven modules and a number of tasks to complete including constructing gates, railing and mailboxes, pruning trees, plumbing in a water trough and installing a water monitoring system to name a few.
In between modules, the Grand Finalists battled it out in the head-to-head competition which saw contestants racing the clock to create a produce box as well as AgriSports which was all about strategy to gain the most points. With a large number of tasks to get through including putting together a spring gate, hooking up a New Holland tractor to a drill, using a gas saw, chopping down a tree and more – all in 45 minutes. Any safety infringements were penalised heavily with contestants having to race back to the start, jump rope for 30 seconds before navigating a series of obstacles to get back to where they were.
Speaking to a full crowd at the Christchurch city town hall on Friday evening, contestants gave a speech on their chosen topic out of three possible topics which ranged from sustainable agriculture, what they wished non-farmers knew and what the most innovative thing in their industry is.
Saturday provided a more relaxed day ahead of the famous FMG Young Farmer of the Year buzzer quiz designed to test the grand final contestant’s knowledge across a range of topics.
The contest is kindly supported and sponsored by FMG, MPI BiosecurityNZ, New Holland, Ravensdown, Lincoln University, Massey University, North and South Fuels, STIHL, WorkSafe, Honda and PTS Logistics.
Full results:
- FMG Young Farmer of the Year: Jake Jarman, Taranaki/Manawatu Region
- Runner Up FMG Young Farmer of the Year: Joseph Watts, East Coast Region
- Third Place FMG Young Farmer of the Year: Calvin Ball, Northern Region
- Agri Business Challenge Winner: Jake Jarman, Taranaki/Manawatu Region
- Agri Sports Challenge Winner: Jake Jarman, Taranaki/Manawatu Region
- Agri Skills Challenge Winner: Joseph Watts, East Coast Region
- Agri Knowledge Challenge Winner: Jake Jarman, Taranaki/Manawatu Region
- Community Footprint Winner: Calvin Ball, Northern Region
