The Country 03/07/26: Rowena Duncum talks to Hamish McKay

We catch up with The Country’s former producer at the practical day at the FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest, to learn more about the National Sustainability Showcase she MC-ed in Christchurch last night.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, next guess yes, you know part of the furniture
needs no introduction. Rowana duncum row, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hey? Hey, miss very well, thank you. It's a stunning
day here in Stratford. I never thought I'd be saying
I'm warm and standing here at the FMG Young Farmer
of the Year Grand Final. Doesn't usually hold true in Stratford.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
The sun is on your back in Stratford. There's something
quite you know, poetic about that, isn't there? There is? Indeed, Hey,
last night, though you were busy at the Sustainability showcast
Balance Awards down there in christ Church, you're all over
the show. Who cleaned up? How did it go?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Oh? It was absolutely phenomenal. So that was my first
time ever getting to MC the National Awards. My goodness.
We think the judges have got, you know, at easy.
They get to travel around the country, they get to
see these beautiful farms and hear all these amazing farming stories.
But last night you can see what a tough job
they had. So we recognized all a live regional Supreme winners.

(01:01):
So they are all winners. They've won all of their regions,
they are the champions. But last night it was about naming,
you know, who won the Gordon Stevenson Trophy and who
are the new national ambassadors for sustainable farming and growing.
So they will represent farmers you know, around the country.
They'll tell their story, they'll inspire people to keep improving
on their farm for the next twelve months. And we

(01:23):
went all the way to the Mighty Gore area, Marino
Downs they farm there, and it was Tony and Michelle
Roberts and they are just class operators but so down
to earth. It was amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, And so what have they done that sort of
really stands out? I mean, because you have to be
good to stand out, as you say, from the other
ten regional winners, to.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Be honest, amish, I cannot tell you what made them
stand out, Like I cannot streets enough genuinely, any of
those eleven could have been the new national sustainability spokespeople.
They're amazing. But look what they're doing down there, just
out of Gore. They are a specialist deer unit that
they are wearing velvet and also trophy heads for overseas

(02:06):
hunters coming over looking for something really cool to take
back to the likes of America and pop up on
their wall there. They've also got intensive dairy heifer grazing
and a small sheet flock of around thirty five sheets.
But they're just so relatable, so down to earth. You know.
They were part of that flood from Tartanaki in the
mid nineties that went down to south and you know,

(02:28):
starting off as sheer milkers making their way through to
farm owners and that's what he had, Judge Karen Williams said,
you know, they taste a dream. They worked their way
up through the ranks, they built their business and that
gives hope to people that there are still pathways in
dairying as well in this country.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Wow, you know, and that's such a good thing to
be reminded of, as it was of that early to
mid mid nineties sort of run from the Tartanaki down
to the South and I've sort of forgotten about that.
Wouldn't that be great to track a number of those
people thirty years on to see what the pictures like,
no doubt, you know, off you in ye yeah, fabulous.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
And they're a great bunch as well. They keeps you know,
quite a tight knit group. For a week while people
thought they were mad. You know, you can be out
there in Taranaki. We are you know today is it's sunny,
sometimes it's warm. You know. I used to farm on
the other side of the mountain and I was told,
you know, if you can see the mountain, it's going
to rain. If you can't see the mountain, it is raining,

(03:25):
you know. But they went down to south and they
just thrived. It was incredible timing.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Great stuff. Enjoy the rest of the FMG Young Farmer
of the Year. That's rowing the duncan out of the
Taranaki Today Stratford where the sun is a shining year.