CSB - George Dobson - FMG Young Farmer of the Year

Catching up with the 56th winner of the Young Farmer competition 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
From the cricket field to the cow shed. It's the
Country Sport Breakfast with Brian Kelly on gold Sport Well.
FMG Young Farmer of the Year is one of the
most prestigious farming awards in the country and on Saturday
night in Hamilton, the fifty sixth FMG Young Farmer of
the Year was crowned and it went down to the wire.

(00:22):
In the end. Canterbory Young Farmer George Dodson took out
that award. Morning George, and congratulations.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Morning and thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
It went down to the wire apparently right down to
almost the last final buzz a quiz.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, well yeah, it was literally like the last few questions.
I think they got me over the line at a
really nice run and that last by the round. So
stoked with that.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
The buzz around you is something that you've actually worked
on since you won the regional final, isn't it. You
put hours and hours and hours of practice at home.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, it was a bit of balancing out a bit
of general knowledge and learning that as well as just
training myself at that buzzer speed and looks like it
came off.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
So tell us this is your second attempt at the
FMG Young Farmer.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Isn't it I've had That's my second regional this year.
I've never been to grand final, so this was my
first Grand final this year.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
So were you nervous going to grand finals? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Absolutely. I was just determined to give it my best
shot and try stay calm and put my best foot forward.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
So across the course of the three days, because I
started last Thursday and into Saturday night, you were faced
with all sorts of grueling challenges. What was the biggest
challenge for you? Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
I think those modules on practical day were really tough.
There was a really big range of stuff and then
some things that I had no clue what was going on,
So I just thought I had to make it up
a little bit as I went along.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
What were some of those things and that you had
no clue of?

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Oh, there was a comb white harvest a module there
that was very difficult, and a vegetable one as well,
which I was just not quite sure about. To try
and hopefully get a few points here and there.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
And will you off too, because I know there were
big crowds watching. Over five hundred spectators poured into Claudland's oval.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, I think you just got to stay in your
own head and not worry about what else is going on.
If you start thinking about the crowd and stuff, you
lose concentration and make mistakes.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Along the way. Were you sort of kept up to
date with how you were going in the contest?

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Now, we had no clue until Yeah, the standings are
posted up just before the quiz there.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
And when they were posted where we're sitting on the leaderboard,
I was in fifth, oh mate, and so you knew,
really you just had what the round of the buzz
around to go.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, I just had to push that buzzer and hope
like hope like that. No other boys didn't push it
as much as me, I spoke, and.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Obviously they didn't because those hours that you'd put into practice.
I think your dad had a lot of a lot
of help there, too, didn't he.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, he was, he was outstanding. We had quite a
few boys every week my place on Sunday nights coming
along for a couple of hours of quiz practice. The
old man to be the quiz master, and we're just
pulled through probably one hundreds of questions in the night
day and it was awesome.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
So winning this prestigious event, the fifty six FMG Young Farmer.
Is this life changing for you?

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yes? Well I think it's. I think it's life changing
for anyone that wins it. The opportunities that it provides,
the networking, getting your name out there, and there's some
wicked prizes as well.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I read somewhere were something like what over ninety
thousand dollars worth of prizes.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yep, she's a very generous, very generous price pack from
the sponsors are absolutely.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Incredible, fantastic. So what now for young and I've got
to say young because you're only twenty three, For young
George Dodson, what's next for you? George?

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Hopefully not the sterarious season, but the next one be
looking for a shermilking job and then the long term
vision is hopefully to own a farm or own part
of a farm.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
So at the moment you work out of what the
Canterbury region, are you just milking down there?

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, I'm attwo I see on a four hundred and
thirty cow dairy farm out halfway between Dunsandal and Barfield.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
No doubt you're going to get a bit of a
hard time when you hit the sheds. This morning.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
No, I'm quite lucky. I've got today off and then
next week I'm away to Tonga for a week a
bit of relaxation. And the farm owner was really good.
He said he didn't want to see me for a
week and rest before coming back and getting into the
sick of carving. So we'll get a nice week off
and then we'll be into it.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Well again, George, well done, congratulations the fifty six FMG
Young Farmer of the Year.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Well done mate, thanks you very much appreciate.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
George Dodson winner of the FMG Young Farmer. He won
it by just three points over the Northern representative Caleb
Edie and I'll lang a young Farmer. Gareth mckensher finished
in third place overall.