Lincoln trifecta in Tasman Young Farmer final

Dairy farm manager, and Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) graduate Jonny Brown claimed the win.

It was the 31-year-old’s fourth appearance in the final but the first time he will be going on to July’s Grand Final.

He manages a dairy farm for Dairy Holdings Ltd which milks 1300 cows.

Jonny will be utilising his friends to test him on all aspects of the primary industries.

"There's a lot of hard work ahead, I'm going to have to polish up on a lot of things," he said.

"Once you've got a taste of being near the top you've got to climb that mountain."

Deer and dairy farmer Andrew Allan, 21, came runner up. He finished his Bachelor of Agriculture (Commerce) at Lincoln last year.

He has completed two summer work placements on sheep and beef properties in Southland/Otago and spent one summer as a soil moisture probe technician.

Student and a Lincoln University Young Farmers member, Archie Woodhouse, 20, finished in third place.

Archie is in his third year of his Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree and has had the opportunity to work on several different properties including a high country station while studying. He was raised on a sheep and beef farm just out of Eketahuna in the Manawatū/Whanganui region and has always had a love of the land and agriculture.

The trio had some strong competition from another Lincoln student Phoebe Smailes, and alumna Ash Foley.

Also a member of Lincoln University Young Farmers, Phoebe started a Bachelor of Land and Property Management degree last year.

She works on sheep and beef farms in the Manawatū/Rangitikei during term breaks. An avid dog trialler since the age of 12, she has qualified and competed at three New Zealand championships since then.

Ash has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree and grew up in Christchurch with no exposure to the primary industries before she started at PGG Wrightson Seeds after finishing High School. She has worked in a range of roles as a representative in the arable industry since then and credits being a ‘townie’ to allowing her to have a diverse point of view.

Lincoln University is a proud sponsor of the FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest, and as a land-based university is focused on developing young talent for the agricultural sector.

Image: The top three in the Tasman final, Archie Woodhouse, left, Jonny Brown, and Andrew Allan.