7 July 2004 Trio of Lincoln Grads Carry University Hopes into Young Farmer Final

Seventeen winners of the 35 Young Farmer contests held since the event was established in 1969 have been ex-Lincoln students and this year the University is in with three chances out of seven to win in the Grand Final.

Competing for the title of National Bank Young Farmer of the Year at Invercargill over 8-10 July are three Lincoln University graduates, two Massey University graduates and two contestants without degrees or diplomas. The finalists are –

• Otago/Southland Regional Winner Simon Hopcroft, Lincoln University Bachelor of Commerce (Agricultural) degree.
• Tasman Regional Winner Hamish Maginness.
• Aorangi Regional Winner John McCaw, Lincoln University Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) degree.
• Taranaki/Manawatu Regional Winner Ben Allomes, Massey University Applied Science degree.
• East Coast Regional Winner Kynan Thomsen, Lincoln University Bachelor of Commerce (Agricultural) degree.
• Northern Regional Winner Stephen Martin.
• Waikato/Bay of Plenty Regional Winner Louise Collingwood, Massey University Bachelor of Applied Science degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Science.

Details of the Lincoln trio are –

Simon Hopcroft, aged 30, is a sheep farmer and former National Bank rural manager. He farms 290 hectares at Gummies Bush, Southland and is the brother-in-law of a former title-holder, Richard Slee, who is also a Lincoln alumnus. Simon graduated from Lincoln University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Commerce (Agricultural) degree. With a total of 235 points, he was the leading points holder of the three South Island regional finalists.

John McCaw, aged 26, is an arable farmer involved with the management of his family's 385-hectare mixed cropping property at Methven. The operation involves trading 1000 lambs, grazing dairy drystock producing a large number different crops, and seed dressing. John graduated from Lincoln University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree with First Class Honours in Seed Technology. He was a Senior Scholar at Lincoln University in his graduating year and held a number of scholarships during his undergraduate years. He was second in the Aorangi Regional Final of the Young Farmer contest in 2003 and this year with a total of 234 he was the second highest points scorer of the three South Island Regional Final winners.

Kynan Thomsen, aged 30, manages a 1300-hectare corporate sheep and beef property (part of the big Pouakini Trust) at Mangakino carrying 14,000 stock units. Kynan was a Grand Finalist in 2002, finishing fourth. He graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Agricultural) degree in 1996 in the same graduating class as fellow grand finalist Simon Hopcroft. He moved to his present position after a period on the family farm at Patoka, Hawkes Bay. With a total of 237 points in his Regional Final, Kynan comes into the Grand Final as the top regional points scorer among the ex-Lincoln trio.

The reigning title-holder, Robert Kempthorne, who works as a rural manager for the National Bank in Invercargill, is a Lincoln University graduate and holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree with Honours, graduating in 1996. The title-holder before him (2002) was also a Lincoln alumnus, Tim Porter a farmer of Pendarves, Mid-Canterbury, who holds a Lincoln University Diploma in Farm Management.

In the 2003 Grand Final in Hastings there were four ex-Lincoln students, two from Massey, and one from Telford Rural Polytechnic. The ex-Lincoln students finished first, third, fourth and sixth.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand