July 13, 2024 • 6 mins
George Dodson has been named the FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
The 22-year-old competed against six other regional finalists in the Grand Final in Hamilton, which wrapped up last night.
Their quick thinking, practical know-how and farming skills were tested across three days.
Dodson says he's finding it hard to find the words to describe how he's feeling.
"It's such an incredible competition with such a deeply-rooted history - so I'm just grateful, I think."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
EDB New Zealand's best young farmers left it all on
the table this week at the FMG Young Farmer of
the Year Grand Final in Waikato. The competition is in
its fifty sixth year and seven grand finalists battled it
out over the past three days, racing against the clock
and each other in a series of high pressure challenges
to design to test them on their quick thinking, practical
(00:34):
know how and farming skills. All is to take out
the title in over ninety thousand dollars in prizes, and
last night, bringing home the bacon for the Tesman region
was twenty two year old George Dodson. Really nice to
talk to you, George. How you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah? Pretty good? How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
How does it feel? Congratulations? How does it feel? What
does it mean to win?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I'm finding it still sinking and I think slowly but
finding it pretty hard to find words to describe what
the feeling's like. It's such an incredible competition with such
deeply rooted history. So yeah, just grateful.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I think what kind of tasks did you have to compete?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Complete in the final Yeah, so we had a few
different sections. There was like Agribusiness, a business presentation that
we had to do before we came here, and then
we had Agri Skills which is a farmler and some modules,
and then the Agri Knowledge so we had speech and
a quiz an HR module and then some agri Sports
(01:34):
which is like some race or arena style sort of
competition building and that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
So how much did you brush up on ahead of this?
Were you able to sort of do you know what
you were going into and prepare.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
You know, some things are probably going to be there,
but some things pop out that you've got no idea
about and I guess it's sort of how you stay
calm and take them on.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Was there anything unexpected thrown at you?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, there was a butchery head to head of cutting
a few or cutting half a lamb up into a
few roasts and some chops, which was done. A little
bit of that, but not a heck of a lot.
So that was it was really cool up on top
of the truck and in front of the crowd.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
They really put you through your paces right three days.
Did you have a bit of an inkling how well
you were doing as those three days were, you know, going.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
On, George, not really because you don't ever see the
scores until the end. You're sort of happy with something
for something you think you could have done a bit better,
I suppose, but you just got to kind of wait
until the end and see how you did compared to
one else.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Who did you have with you for support at the competition?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yeah, my family, my parents, sisters, my partner, grandparents, some
extended family and that sort of thing, and also the
guys from the region.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So yep, that's been quite it's been a family weekend.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Do you have any.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Particular areas of interest with an farming.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, I'm a dairy farmer, so really passionate about the
dairy industry.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
What about the way you want to farm in the
future and things like that. What do you sort of
got ideas about that a new generation farmer?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, I think like a sustainability it's got to be
at the forefront of what we want to achieve. And
that's not just the environment, you know, that's in terms
of being profitable, but looking after all aspects of our
farming system to be in it for the long term.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
How are you going to celebrate.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I don't know yet. Me and my partner are off
chief from Tonga, so we're going to Tonga for a
week to have a holiday. It'll be real nice.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Puts you're faked up in a little bit of warmth,
A sleeping sounds like a good way to celebrate. So
what's next, George? What are your plans?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Hopefully I can use this this when to sort of
propel myself a bit into more of the public eye,
I suppose, and great more opportunities for myself. Would like
to go sharemulking meant season all the one after, So
that's definitely at the forefront of my mind in terms
of progressing business wise. And you just utilize all the
opportunities that winning this competition gives you.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Ninety thousand prizes. What were those prizes? What kind of
things did you win?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I couldn't tell you all off the top of my head.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
What struck you? What were you happy about?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
With cash in there? There's a really generous gift of
a quad bike from Flonder. There's the we Boomer tractors
that we used in that second head to head one
of them and then got some five thousand dollars of Milwaukee,
some Ravens down Staff where it's a bushbark. All those
guys that are supporting the competition.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Well that's fantastic. So you don't you don't just walk
away with this meaningful title. Actually got some good stuff, George.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, the prizes are absolutely incredible and that's all for
the generous sponsors.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Tell me about your competition who you were up against.
Was there anyone in the particular that you were a
bit rid about?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Probably not anyone in particular. Like, they're all incredible competitors
in their own right, and I was absolutely stoked to
take it out. Some really smart and highly skilled young
people coming through that industry. So I don't think you
put your eye on a particular one sort of more,
just worry about what you can control and year.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Go for it. Hey, how old do you? How old
can you enter? How old? A? What's the cutoff age
wise for the young farmer competition?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah? So thirty one is the cutoff for young farmers.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Oh, George, you could do this again.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Oh, actually, once you win it, you can't go again.
The competitions.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Well, good on you for nailing that at twenty two.
That is amazing Thank you so much for your time
this morning. Have a lovely trip to Tongra. It sounds
like you very much deserve that that break. That was
George Dobson there who last night took out the FMG
Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Waikato. He
is just twenty two years old, so that's pretty cool.
(06:11):
If you went, tell us what it was like. It
does sound like it's quite a full on competition. You
have to hold your nerve a little bit.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
EDB New Zealand's best young farmers left it all on
the table this week at the FMG Young Farmer of
the Year Grand Final in Waikato. The competition is in
its fifty sixth year and seven grand finalists battled it
out over the past three days, racing against the clock
and each other in a series of high pressure challenges
to design to test them on their quick thinking, practical
(00:34):
know how and farming skills. All is to take out
the title in over ninety thousand dollars in prizes, and
last night, bringing home the bacon for the Tesman region
was twenty two year old George Dodson. Really nice to
talk to you, George. How you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah? Pretty good? How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
How does it feel? Congratulations? How does it feel? What
does it mean to win?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I'm finding it still sinking and I think slowly but
finding it pretty hard to find words to describe what
the feeling's like. It's such an incredible competition with such
deeply rooted history. So yeah, just grateful.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I think what kind of tasks did you have to compete?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Complete in the final Yeah, so we had a few
different sections. There was like Agribusiness, a business presentation that
we had to do before we came here, and then
we had Agri Skills which is a farmler and some modules,
and then the Agri Knowledge so we had speech and
a quiz an HR module and then some agri Sports
(01:34):
which is like some race or arena style sort of
competition building and that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
So how much did you brush up on ahead of this?
Were you able to sort of do you know what
you were going into and prepare.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
You know, some things are probably going to be there,
but some things pop out that you've got no idea
about and I guess it's sort of how you stay
calm and take them on.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Was there anything unexpected thrown at you?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, there was a butchery head to head of cutting
a few or cutting half a lamb up into a
few roasts and some chops, which was done. A little
bit of that, but not a heck of a lot.
So that was it was really cool up on top
of the truck and in front of the crowd.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
They really put you through your paces right three days.
Did you have a bit of an inkling how well
you were doing as those three days were, you know, going.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
On, George, not really because you don't ever see the
scores until the end. You're sort of happy with something
for something you think you could have done a bit better,
I suppose, but you just got to kind of wait
until the end and see how you did compared to
one else.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Who did you have with you for support at the competition?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yeah, my family, my parents, sisters, my partner, grandparents, some
extended family and that sort of thing, and also the
guys from the region.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So yep, that's been quite it's been a family weekend.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Do you have any.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Particular areas of interest with an farming.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, I'm a dairy farmer, so really passionate about the
dairy industry.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
What about the way you want to farm in the
future and things like that. What do you sort of
got ideas about that a new generation farmer?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, I think like a sustainability it's got to be
at the forefront of what we want to achieve. And
that's not just the environment, you know, that's in terms
of being profitable, but looking after all aspects of our
farming system to be in it for the long term.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
How are you going to celebrate.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I don't know yet. Me and my partner are off
chief from Tonga, so we're going to Tonga for a
week to have a holiday. It'll be real nice.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Puts you're faked up in a little bit of warmth,
A sleeping sounds like a good way to celebrate. So
what's next, George? What are your plans?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Hopefully I can use this this when to sort of
propel myself a bit into more of the public eye,
I suppose, and great more opportunities for myself. Would like
to go sharemulking meant season all the one after, So
that's definitely at the forefront of my mind in terms
of progressing business wise. And you just utilize all the
opportunities that winning this competition gives you.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Ninety thousand prizes. What were those prizes? What kind of
things did you win?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I couldn't tell you all off the top of my head.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
What struck you? What were you happy about?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
With cash in there? There's a really generous gift of
a quad bike from Flonder. There's the we Boomer tractors
that we used in that second head to head one
of them and then got some five thousand dollars of Milwaukee,
some Ravens down Staff where it's a bushbark. All those
guys that are supporting the competition.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Well that's fantastic. So you don't you don't just walk
away with this meaningful title. Actually got some good stuff, George.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, the prizes are absolutely incredible and that's all for
the generous sponsors.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Tell me about your competition who you were up against.
Was there anyone in the particular that you were a
bit rid about?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Probably not anyone in particular. Like, they're all incredible competitors
in their own right, and I was absolutely stoked to
take it out. Some really smart and highly skilled young
people coming through that industry. So I don't think you
put your eye on a particular one sort of more,
just worry about what you can control and year.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Go for it. Hey, how old do you? How old
can you enter? How old? A? What's the cutoff age
wise for the young farmer competition?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah? So thirty one is the cutoff for young farmers.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Oh, George, you could do this again.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Oh, actually, once you win it, you can't go again.
The competitions.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Well, good on you for nailing that at twenty two.
That is amazing Thank you so much for your time
this morning. Have a lovely trip to Tongra. It sounds
like you very much deserve that that break. That was
George Dobson there who last night took out the FMG
Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Waikato. He
is just twenty two years old, so that's pretty cool.
(06:11):
If you went, tell us what it was like. It
does sound like it's quite a full on competition. You
have to hold your nerve a little bit.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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