Will Grayling is the 2011 Young Farmer of the Year
Twenty five year old Will from the Pendarves Club was representing the Aorangi Region. He’s a manager on a 1600 cow dairy farm in Ashburton and is due to marry Kim in December this year. He has a Masters of Applied Science from Lincoln University and was a first time Contestant at Grand Final level.
It didn’t look like it was going to be Will’s night earlier on and even he was worried that the title could be out of his grasp after he made some mistakes in the early question buzzer rounds.
“I thought it was slipping away several times – I got off to a rough start.”
In the end though, his all-round performance secured him the win; he took out the AGMARDT Agri-business Challenge after delivering a presentation on the supply of colostrum earlier in the week. He received an AGMARDT Scholarship towards a career development programme valued at $15,000. He also won the Lincoln University Agri-growth Challenge, taking away a Lincoln University conference package for an industry related conference – domestically or internationally to the value of $8,000. It was a tight race though; Will won the Challenge by only .2 of a mark over Tim van de Molen.
Will also won a $62,000 Grand Final prize package that includes 12 month’s complimentary use of an Isuzu D-Max valued at approximately $15,000, a Honda TRX420FPM power steer four-wheel drive manual ATV $ valued at 15,000, $10,000 cash from The National Bank, quality products and services from Ravensdown to the value of $7,000, a selection of quality outdoor power equipment from ECHO to the value of $7,000, a Lincoln University scholarship for study towards a Specialist Masters of Professional Studies or entry to the Kellogg Programme valued at $5,000, an AGMARDT Scholarship towards a career development programme valued at $2,000 and a range of Swanndri clothing to the value of $1,000.Isuzu Agri-Sports winner – 12 month’s complimentary use of a Isuzu D-Max valued at $15,000.
It was a completely fresh field at The National Bank Young Farmer Contest Grand Final this year including St Paul’s Old Collegian (Fitchett 2001 – 2003) twenty five year old Will Grayling who took out the regional Aorangi title. All seven Grand Finalists were new to Grand Final level this year – a rare occurrence in the history of the Contest.
Will, who holds a Master of Applied Science from Lincoln University, is no stranger to studying; he used those skills over the weeks of preparation for the Regional Final. The study paid off when he kept his cool in the regional contest and answered some tricky questions during the question buzzer rounds at the Mackenzie Community Centre.
He excelled in other areas too – taking out the Lincoln University Agri-growth Challenge and the Isuzu Agri-Sports Challenge.
It is a big year for Will – he’s marrying his fiancée Kim in December, but all the while he remained focussed on winning the Grand Final.
After winning the Aorangi title Will said “I’ll go away now and work hard on my weaknesses. Seeing as Grand Final is being held in the home of the Golden Shears I might have to practice shearing some sheep!”
