Rural insurer FMG has celebrated the 50th anniversary of New Zealand’s longest-running agricultural contest, FMG Young Farmer of the Year.

Former winners and finalists were among a 400-strong crowd that gathered in Invercargill on July 05 to mark the milestone.

Dannevirke’s Nolan Williams, who was part of the national final in 1973, attended the event. He said it’s been great catching up with people who were involved with the contest just as he was.

“There were no practical elements like there are today,” Williams said. “I think it’s much better having a mix of theory and practical challenges.

“In 1973, there were only four grand finalists – two from the North Island and two from the South Island. It was quite different to what it is now,” he added.

NZ Young Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland, meanwhile, said: “This is the first time we’ve had so many grand finalists in one room.”

Also among the attendees was Levin farmer Geoff Kane, who won the national final in 1981.

“It’s amazing. It’s just like a school reunion isn’t it,” Kane said. He even recalled the modules finalists, at the time, had to tackle.

“Horticulture was just coming into its own in the 80s, so we had to plant and prune a few trees,” he noted. “We also had to hang gates, fix a water pump, repair the chain on a motorbike and deal with a tractor that had run out of diesel.”

Kane won a 21-day trip around Hawaii in the United States and a new tractor.

“But most importantly I won the esteem of winning the Young Farmer of the Year, which has been great throughout my whole life,” he added.

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