fbpx
星期一, 12 月 9, 2024

Young farmer Sam Waugh plays it again!

Young Farmer of the Year Northern Regionals’ top three, from left, were Sam Waugh [second], Caleb Eady [first] and Zarnie Fergusson [third].
His days of competing in Young Farmer of the Year are now behind him, however there is still plenty of work to be done at Donald’s Farm, Whitford, as JON RAWLINSON discovered.

After placing second in the recent Young Farmer of the Year Northern Regionals, Sam Waugh is (in some ways) quite happy to be put out to pasture.

As manager of Whitford’s Donald’s Farm, the Franklin Young Farmer will continue to put his experiences to good use by fostering fresh crops of young primary industry professionals.

“This was my last year competing [in Young Farmer] due to aging out next year. I have had an amazing time with my involvement in both NZ Young Farmers and the contest,” he says.

“I have met amazing people and made some incredible lifelong friends throughout my journey, gained many new skills and developed more ways to think clearly under pressure. The number of networks the competition has provided has been immense [and] this will definitely help with my work.”

Gifted to NZ Young Farmers in 2018 by the estate of the late Donald Pearson, Donald’s Farm is a working dairy operation serving as an outdoor, hands-on classroom. In addition to helping to the urban/rural divide by regularly hosts school groups to educate students (especially those from urban backgrounds) about farming, it provides a springboard for those interested in pursuing careers across the primary sector.

Sam Waugh, manager of Whitford’s Donald’s Farm, at the recent Young Farmer of the Year Northern Regionals.

The farm is also a regular participant in the Open Farms programme and works with initiatives such as Nature’s Den and Trees for Survival Charitable Trust. Sustainability is at the heart of the farm’s goals, as demonstrated during the recent Auckland regional Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA).

Sam secured four prizes for Donald’s Farm. “It was a most rewarding experience for the whole team. We entered to get some feedback from experts in their fields about where the work we are doing in the environmental space, so to take out a number of category awards was an amazing surprise and very encouraging for the work we are doing here.”

While BEFA assesses organisations’ efforts across the board, Young Farmer of the Year is a more personal affair – participants compete in farm-related challenges designed to test their individual skills.

“I have treated the BFEA and NZ Young Farmer competitions quite separately as they have very different purposes and I had very different reasons for entering them,” Sam confirms.

After placing third in Young Farmer’s Northern Regionals in 2022, Sam was second (to fellow Frankliner, Lisa Kendall) last year. In April, he again finished as runner-up, this time to Northlander Caleb Eady.

“It was rather disappointing to find myself in the ‘bridesmaid’ position again, to come up just short was not the result I was wanting. However, it was a very tight regional final,” he reflects.

Sam Waugh. Photo Dairy NZ

“All of the competitors gave it a strong crack, which certainly pushed me on. Given there’s so many points on offer, for the competition to come down to only two points between us [Sam and Caleb] highlights how well fought it was.”

The Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final will take place in Hamilton, July 11-13, contested by seven regional winners.

“The Northern region has a tight group of members and I have known Caleb for a number of years, so I’ll definitely be cheering him on,” Sam adds.

“He’s a great competitor and an even better guy. I’ll be putting my full support behind him as he heads to the big showdown and I know he will give it a really good go.”

As for Sam, he has plenty to keep him busy back at home in east Auckland. A Fielding dairy farmer’s son, he studied at Lincoln University in Christchurch before moving to England where his big OE was cut short by Covid.

He has been helping others learn the ropes at Donald’s Farm. “One of the biggest assets of this farm is its location,” he said, soon after taking on the role of farm manager in 2020.

“Being so close to Auckland allows us to showcase agriculture to children who may, otherwise, never set foot on a farm. I think we make a difference in educating people about farming and bridging that rural/urban divide – the better we understand each other, the better our society will be.”

  • For more about Sam’s work and results from Young Farmer of the Year are accessible via www.youngfarmers.co.nz.

By clicking to accept for Times Online to be translated into Mandarin, you accept and acknowledge that it has been translated for your convenience using 3 rd party translation software. No automated translation is perfect, nor is it intended to replace human translators and are provided "as is." No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, or correctness of any translations made from English into Mandarin. Some content (such as images, videos etc.) may not be accurately translated due to the limitations of the translation software. The official text is the English version of the website. Any discrepancies or differences created in the translation are not binding and have no legal effect and should not be relied on by you for any decision-making purposes. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of the information contained in the translated website, refer to the English version of the website which is the official edited version.

点击同意将《时代在线》翻译成中文,即表示您接受并确认,该翻译是使用第三方软件为您方便起见而 提供的。请注意自动翻译并非完美无缺,也不旨在取代人工翻译,只能作为参考而已。对于英文到中文 的任何翻译的准确性、可靠性或正确性,我们不提供任何明示或暗示的保证。由于翻译软件的限制,某 些内容(如图片、视频等)可能无法准确翻译。   英文版本是本网站的官方正式文本。翻译中产生的任何差异或错误均不具有约束力,不具有法律效力, 您不应依赖由自动翻译软件生成的版本做出任何决策。如果对翻译后的网站中包含的信息的准确性有任 何疑问,请参阅本网站的官方编辑英文版本。

- 广告
- 广告

更多信息来自《泰晤士报在线

- 广告

最新

- 广告
- 广告