August 14, 2025 • 6 mins
Today’s farmer panel comprises the two most recent winners of the FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's Farmer panel is a young Farmer panel. In fact,
they're the most recent Young Farmers of the Year. George
Dodson twenty twenty four FMG Young Farmer.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Of the Year.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And this bloke's still fresh. His name is Hugh Jackson.
He's the twenty twenty five FMG Young Farmer of the Year. Okay, George,
we'll give you senior rights here, seeing you got the
title one year earlier. Your dairy farming and Darfield. How's
the season treating you?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Oh gooday, Jamie. It's great to be on the show again.
It's been a relatively poor winter. I suppose it's been
quite cold, reasonably were but we seem to be getting
a good patch now so it's thrying things out and
we'll hopefully kick on to a beautiful spring.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How far through carving are you.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I'm just up the hell sort of out the back
of Darfield, so we start about two weeks later than
most of Canterbury, so we're only probably about fifteen percent
through we started. Our plans start with the thirteenth of August.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Hugh Jackson, you're at Tiarkaw, just up the road from
Raglan or down the road from ragl sheep and beef farmer.
I didn't think there was many sheep farmers left up
that neck of the woods. Good afternoon to you, Good.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Afnoon, Jamie. Now there's still penty around and cheaper land
classes where it's a bit rougher like where we are
out here in Tiaco, right on the west coast, and
we've had a pretty good winter and having a really
nice week or so a week and a half just recently.
Frosty mornings but beautiful, fine sunny days, so we'll take
that for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You're carrying a lot of balls, rearing a lot of balls,
so that's beef. You must be laughing all the way
to the bank. You what with that and all the
money you want as young farmer of the year.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Yeah, definitely good times to be finishing balls. We buy
them in as twelve months of age at the earliest
and sort of eighteen months at the oldest is what
we aim to do and try and aim to buy
that lighter weight class, so round the three hundred kick
kg mark or even lighter. When they're at the twelve
months of age you like to buy. The ball's pretty
(02:01):
hard done so that we try and get a bit
of compensatory growth and they kick away for us afterwards.
But the problem is that we've got to buy them
in Jamien. It's you've got to go to the bank
to do that too. So she's pretty expensive on that
side of the ledge as well, but good, good returns
at the other side. They can't complain.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
How do you get on working with the bulls in
the cattle yards. You'd have to be pretty quick on
your feet, wouldn't you. It's not for the faint hearted.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Yeah, they definitely get a bit towy when they get
a bit bigger, but most of them are hand read
sort of freeing balls. Is the majority of what we've
got from the dairy industry, so and try and help
them out with their bobby calf issue. And we we've
been spring drinking at the moment next year, so some
of them are pretty big, it's for sure. But he's
got to have your what's about you and apply common
(02:47):
sort of stock sense and make sure you are standing
in the right place at the right time year.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So that's Hugh Jackson twenty twenty five. Current Young Farmer
of the Year George Dodson won it last year twenty
twenty four. The interesting thing about you too, George, which
is that your mates because you were both members of
the Thornberry Young Farmers Club way down in Southland, just
outside of in the Cargo.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Tell me how that came about.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, that's right, Jamie. It's a bit of a cool
story really. You know. I first I moved back down
to south And a couple of years ago just to
have a cracket managing a farm down there for a
year and join the Thornbury Club. And Hugh was actually
the first guy that came up to me and said
gooday and sort of made some conversation. So it was
certainly a pretty cool moment. You know. We did quite
a bit of young farmer stuff together over that year
(03:32):
and kept in touch pretty well, so it was pretty
heartwarming moment to see him get the title. And I
know how much he's put into it, so yeah, he's
a great mate as well as a great person.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Hey, Hugh, have you ever competed head to head against
Georgia district or regional level?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
We competed against each other in twenty twenty two and
I managed to qualify for Grand Final first home round
after going on to the regionals and then managing to
get through that, coming up against Emmopool obviously and Peter
O'Connor who finished first and second that first time round.
I had a crack. So it was really cool when
(04:10):
just shows you George finished fifth I think it was
that year and they took the top four through, so
forgive it from him to pick himself back up the
following year and even though he didn't qualify at the
districts the year before, and go all the way and
take it out.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So oh, so, Hugh, you've got bragging rights.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Oh well, yeah, I guess so.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
No, but I guess George can say he won it first.
All right, listen, I'll stick with you, Hugh Jackson. You're
the current Young Farmer of the Year. You've really only
had the title of just over a month's how's it
changed your life?
Speaker 4 (04:43):
It's been it's been busy, Jamie. Yeah. Obviously shot over
to Tanzania for a couple of weeks for a holiday,
which was pretty awesome and made me appreciate New Zealand
a whole lot better, a whole lot more when I
came back. That's for sure. She's a different world over there,
and we don't know how lucky we are, but definitely
enjoying the opportunity to for my best foot forward and
(05:05):
do a few interviews. Definitely has helped me get my
brand and my name out there. And I got a
few speaking engagements coming up in November. One of them
is the Thornberry Young Kramer's ninetieth reunion, which I'm really
looking forward to. So if you're around in the area
and been part of the club or just involved in
any way, make sure you get along to that. And yeah,
(05:27):
so looking forward to that opportunity of relishing my sort
of public speaking skills and improving them, and also trying
to do my book for the industry and promoting promoting it,
getting young people into it, and also happy to talk
about mental health stuff as well. So if you need
a speaker or whatever, or just yeah, feel free to
(05:47):
get in touch.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
George.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
How has it changed your life one year on and
improve your public speaking?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yes, certainly has, Jamie. You know, there was a bit
of a pressure cooker at that Ural Support Trust debate
a couple of months ago. You know, you have to
do the speeches for the Young Farm of the Air competition,
and then you know you're just talking to people in general.
I think you get a lot better just communicating with
people and building relationships.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So we've just had the announcement this week that the
Young Farmer of the Air Grand Final returns to the
Taranaki region for season fifty eight. You'll both be in
New Plymouth July second to fourth next year.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, claming me there.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
All right, lads, thanks for your time. I think it's
a wonderful story. You're a good panel. You keep us
younger here on the country. God knows we need that.
Keep up the great work as the twenty twenty four
and twenty twenty five FMG Young Farmers of the Year respectively,
go well, enjoy the next month on your farms.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Very important farming month, he Jammi.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Thanks Jamie,
Today's Farmer panel is a young Farmer panel. In fact,
they're the most recent Young Farmers of the Year. George
Dodson twenty twenty four FMG Young Farmer.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Of the Year.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And this bloke's still fresh. His name is Hugh Jackson.
He's the twenty twenty five FMG Young Farmer of the Year. Okay, George,
we'll give you senior rights here, seeing you got the
title one year earlier. Your dairy farming and Darfield. How's
the season treating you?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Oh gooday, Jamie. It's great to be on the show again.
It's been a relatively poor winter. I suppose it's been
quite cold, reasonably were but we seem to be getting
a good patch now so it's thrying things out and
we'll hopefully kick on to a beautiful spring.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How far through carving are you.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I'm just up the hell sort of out the back
of Darfield, so we start about two weeks later than
most of Canterbury, so we're only probably about fifteen percent
through we started. Our plans start with the thirteenth of August.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Hugh Jackson, you're at Tiarkaw, just up the road from
Raglan or down the road from ragl sheep and beef farmer.
I didn't think there was many sheep farmers left up
that neck of the woods. Good afternoon to you, Good.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Afnoon, Jamie. Now there's still penty around and cheaper land
classes where it's a bit rougher like where we are
out here in Tiaco, right on the west coast, and
we've had a pretty good winter and having a really
nice week or so a week and a half just recently.
Frosty mornings but beautiful, fine sunny days, so we'll take
that for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You're carrying a lot of balls, rearing a lot of balls,
so that's beef. You must be laughing all the way
to the bank. You what with that and all the
money you want as young farmer of the year.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Yeah, definitely good times to be finishing balls. We buy
them in as twelve months of age at the earliest
and sort of eighteen months at the oldest is what
we aim to do and try and aim to buy
that lighter weight class, so round the three hundred kick
kg mark or even lighter. When they're at the twelve
months of age you like to buy. The ball's pretty
(02:01):
hard done so that we try and get a bit
of compensatory growth and they kick away for us afterwards.
But the problem is that we've got to buy them
in Jamien. It's you've got to go to the bank
to do that too. So she's pretty expensive on that
side of the ledge as well, but good, good returns
at the other side. They can't complain.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
How do you get on working with the bulls in
the cattle yards. You'd have to be pretty quick on
your feet, wouldn't you. It's not for the faint hearted.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Yeah, they definitely get a bit towy when they get
a bit bigger, but most of them are hand read
sort of freeing balls. Is the majority of what we've
got from the dairy industry, so and try and help
them out with their bobby calf issue. And we we've
been spring drinking at the moment next year, so some
of them are pretty big, it's for sure. But he's
got to have your what's about you and apply common
(02:47):
sort of stock sense and make sure you are standing
in the right place at the right time year.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So that's Hugh Jackson twenty twenty five. Current Young Farmer
of the Year George Dodson won it last year twenty
twenty four. The interesting thing about you too, George, which
is that your mates because you were both members of
the Thornberry Young Farmers Club way down in Southland, just
outside of in the Cargo.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Tell me how that came about.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, that's right, Jamie. It's a bit of a cool
story really. You know. I first I moved back down
to south And a couple of years ago just to
have a cracket managing a farm down there for a
year and join the Thornbury Club. And Hugh was actually
the first guy that came up to me and said
gooday and sort of made some conversation. So it was
certainly a pretty cool moment. You know. We did quite
a bit of young farmer stuff together over that year
(03:32):
and kept in touch pretty well, so it was pretty
heartwarming moment to see him get the title. And I
know how much he's put into it, so yeah, he's
a great mate as well as a great person.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Hey, Hugh, have you ever competed head to head against
Georgia district or regional level?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
We competed against each other in twenty twenty two and
I managed to qualify for Grand Final first home round
after going on to the regionals and then managing to
get through that, coming up against Emmopool obviously and Peter
O'Connor who finished first and second that first time round.
I had a crack. So it was really cool when
(04:10):
just shows you George finished fifth I think it was
that year and they took the top four through, so
forgive it from him to pick himself back up the
following year and even though he didn't qualify at the
districts the year before, and go all the way and
take it out.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So oh, so, Hugh, you've got bragging rights.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Oh well, yeah, I guess so.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
No, but I guess George can say he won it first.
All right, listen, I'll stick with you, Hugh Jackson. You're
the current Young Farmer of the Year. You've really only
had the title of just over a month's how's it
changed your life?
Speaker 4 (04:43):
It's been it's been busy, Jamie. Yeah. Obviously shot over
to Tanzania for a couple of weeks for a holiday,
which was pretty awesome and made me appreciate New Zealand
a whole lot better, a whole lot more when I
came back. That's for sure. She's a different world over there,
and we don't know how lucky we are, but definitely
enjoying the opportunity to for my best foot forward and
(05:05):
do a few interviews. Definitely has helped me get my
brand and my name out there. And I got a
few speaking engagements coming up in November. One of them
is the Thornberry Young Kramer's ninetieth reunion, which I'm really
looking forward to. So if you're around in the area
and been part of the club or just involved in
any way, make sure you get along to that. And yeah,
(05:27):
so looking forward to that opportunity of relishing my sort
of public speaking skills and improving them, and also trying
to do my book for the industry and promoting promoting it,
getting young people into it, and also happy to talk
about mental health stuff as well. So if you need
a speaker or whatever, or just yeah, feel free to
(05:47):
get in touch.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
George.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
How has it changed your life one year on and
improve your public speaking?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yes, certainly has, Jamie. You know, there was a bit
of a pressure cooker at that Ural Support Trust debate
a couple of months ago. You know, you have to
do the speeches for the Young Farm of the Air competition,
and then you know you're just talking to people in general.
I think you get a lot better just communicating with
people and building relationships.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So we've just had the announcement this week that the
Young Farmer of the Air Grand Final returns to the
Taranaki region for season fifty eight. You'll both be in
New Plymouth July second to fourth next year.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, claming me there.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
All right, lads, thanks for your time. I think it's
a wonderful story. You're a good panel. You keep us
younger here on the country. God knows we need that.
Keep up the great work as the twenty twenty four
and twenty twenty five FMG Young Farmers of the Year respectively,
go well, enjoy the next month on your farms.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Very important farming month, he Jammi.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Thanks Jamie,
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