Four members of Lincoln University Young Farmers will be putting club loyalty aside as they battle it out to win the Tasman regional final of FMG Young Farmer of the Year on March 28.
Students Jeremy Kilgour, Jack Taggart, Becky Rickard and George Gill will be competing at the Malvern A&P Show to claim a place in the Grand Final in July.
Three of the other four contestants are also Lincoln alumni so the university has a strong presence in the competition, which it is sponsoring and helping to run from, Agri-kids to the senior event.
Jeremy is studying a Bachelor of Agriculture and doing agricultural contracting and working on his parents’ pig farm. He sees his future in the agricultural, food and fibres sector.
Jack has diplomas in agriculture and farm management and is studying a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture). He’s already started his own sheep herd and sees himself in a rural professional or farm management role.
Becky is one of the youngest competitors, at 19, to make it through to Regional Finals this year. She is studying a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University. She grew up on a kiwifruit orchard and maize block, but her true passion is dairy farming and she is currently studying on a DairyNZ scholarship.
George is in his last year of a Bachelor of Land and Property Management degree with a Rural Valuation major. He has been awarded two Prime Minister’s Scholarships where he travelled through both Brazil and China learning about agribusiness and exports and his goal is to work his way to farm ownership.
Good luck to you all.