26-year-old sheep and beef farmer Hugh Jackson beat off six other finalists from throughout New Zealand, including 28-year-old Southland young farmer Cameron Smith, to win the New Zealand Young Farmer of the Year title in Invercargill on Saturday night (5 Jul).

Jackson, who represented Waikato Bay of Plenty, said he was “over the moon."

The FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition is now in its 57th year and is the pinnacle of the young farmers' calendar with more than $90,000 in prizes up for grabs.

Friday's practical section was held at the Winton Racecourse with events like shearing sheep, building bridges, filleting fish and making haybales, to show off finalists' diverse practical farming skills.

The competition concluded on Saturday night at Stadium Southland where contestants went head-to-head in an attempt to gain a point-scoring advantage over their competition.

Fourteen FMG Junior Young Farmers of the Year teams also competed for their national title, with Rangiora High School taking out the junior title.

And the Oinks from Seddon School beat out 21 other AgriKidsNZ teams to become grand champions of their competition.