On Saturday 16 boys competed in the Tasman region Junior Young Farmer Competition. The boys had to complete 7 tasks over a 45 min period. The tasks were run by businesses such as Ravendown and FMG and also Lincoln and Massey universities. The tasks included fencing, understanding wool and products that come from wool, the nitrogen cycle and knowing what effects nutrient losses from soil and identifying on farm risks and how these can be minimized.

After the 7 modules were completed the top 5 teams were named and 3 of these teams were from St Bedes. These teams then competed in a buzzer style quiz and these points were added to their module scores. Michael Blunt and Zander McCloy ended up in the top spot and have secured a place at the Grand Final in July. Connor Carroll and Oliver Carter finished in 4th only 5 points away from 2nd and James Grant and Henry Bone finished 5th only 3 points back. Henry Bone was also named as the Competitor of the Day. It was a great result for the boys, and we look forward to the challenge of preparing for the Grand Final.

On top of this success, it is great to see some old boys achieving well in the Young Farmer of the Year competition. In February, Mac Williams, who was a boarder at St Bedes from 2016-2020 and won the Junior Young Farmer of the Year title while at St Bedes in 2020, won the Taranaki-Manawatu edition of the Young Farmer of the Year competition and will be competing at the Grand Final. He has now been joined by Nick O’Connor, also a boarder from 2016-2020 and also won the Junior Young Farmer of the Year title while at St Bedes in 2018, who won the Tasman Young Farmer of the Year competition on Saturday.