My Account
A member of Kaipara Young Farmers has made it through to next month’s northern regional finals of the 2022 FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition.
Zarnie Fergusson, who is 28, breeds pure Angus cattle on a 50 hectare block in Waitoki, as well as finishing Hereford cross steers on a 95ha lease block and working on the family dairy farm, both of which are near Kaukapakapa.
She and seven other finalists were chosen after a district contest that was held virtually, due to Covid-19 restrictions, and they will go head to head at the northern final on Saturday, April 2 at Mt Albert Grammar School Farm in central Auckland.
Zarnie came to farming relatively late, having grown up in central Auckland, where she was planning to study and work in the health sector. However, that all changed when she moved to the family dairy farm to help take care of her grandmother.
“While I was living there, I figured I should find something to do with the time I wasn’t spending with my grandmother, so I bought a line of 20 weaners,” she said.
“The farming life took hold of me rather aggressively and I’m still well and truly entrenched. Those 20 weaners turned into more than 1900 stock units and I have no intention of returning to anything else. Farming is in the blood for me.”
As well as the Young Farmers’ regional final, two other events will be held on the same day for even younger farming folk – the northern regional finals of both the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year contest and AgriKidsNZ.
The Junior Young Farmer of the Year is open to teams of two high school students aged 13 to 18, while AgriKidsNZ is open to teams of three primary school children aged eight to 12. Entries for both are open now and close two weeks before the event on April 2.
Info and registration: https://events.humanitix.com/agrikidsnzregionalfinals and https://events.humanitix.com/regionalfinalsjunior
