Seven of the eight young farmers contesting next years Otago Southland Young Farmer of the Year regional final are from Southland.

The Southland lineup includes Sam Anderson, James Fox, Hugh Jackson and Cameron Smith from the Thornbury club, Andrew Cowie and Kurt Knarston from the Nightcaps club and Zac Thomas from the Waitane club.

Jeremy Hudson from Teviot Valley is the only Otago finalist this year.

The regional final is set to be held on Saturday 25th March in Middlemarch.

The winner will represent Otago Southland at the competitions national finals in July, where they will compete alongside six other regional finalists, in 3 days of grueling challenges.

Last year's winner, Tim Dangen from Whangarei, took home over $75,000 in prizes.

Otago Southland Finalists

Andrew Cowie. Photo: Supplied

Andrew is a member of the Nightcaps Young Farmers Club.

He qualified for the Otago Southland Regional Final at the Southland District Contest.

Cameron Smith. Photo: Supplied

Cameron is currently working on his fiancé's 680 cow family dairy farm and is in the process of signing a contract milking job for next season.

He grew up on a sheep farm, milked cows through school, went through Lincoln University, was a fencing contractor for two years in Lincoln then went back to dairy farming.

Hugh Jackson. Photo: Supplied

Hugh is currently the Herd Manager on a 600-cow farm. He grew up in the Waikato on a sheep and beef farm near Te Akau. 

Hugh worked for DairyNZ for two years, based out of Invercargill and Ashburton, before starting on-farm in March 2022.

He first joined Young Farmers with the Massey Young Farmers back in 2017 and since then has been a member of Thornbury and Hinds Young Farmers

James Fox. Photo: Supplied

James is an Area Manager for Fonterra in Western Southland, managing relationships with farmers across the area. He grew up on a sheep and beef farm in the Scargill Valley in North Canterbury, and has lived in Otago and Southland since leaving school. 

James has been a Young Farmers member since 2017. In this time, he has been the Chair of Thornbury Young Farmers, convened the 2021 Otago Southland Regional Final, the Treasurer of the Otago Southland Region, and is the current NZYF National Committee delegate for Otago Southland.

Jeremy Hudson. Photo: Supplied

Jeremy is currently the head shepherd on a large high country sheep and beef station in Miller's Flat.

He grew up in Gisborne and when he left school started a diesel mechanics apprenticeship at a tractor sales and service dealer. He worked there for 5.5 years until he went shepherding near Wairoa.

When Jeremy isn't working he likes to get out and about doing things like dirt bike riding, hunting, fishing and dog trialling.

Kurt Knarston. Photo: Supplied

Kurt is an Agri-Business Banker looking after a portfolio of dairy, sheep, beer and deer farming clients.

Kurt grew up in Western Southland on a sheep farm and then went to study at Lincoln University. He spent summers working on various farms in Southland and also did a stint in the Wairarapa.

He has been a Young Farmers members for five or so years and is currently the Treasurer of the Nightcaps Young Farmers Club for the second year.

Sam Anderson. Photo: Supplied

Sam is an Extension Agronomist for covering Southland and Otago. His role focuses on trialling a range of forage products and providing technical support to retailers and farmers. He has also recently started leasing the family sheep farm in Western Southland, where he runs 1500 ewes.

Sam grew up on the family sheep farm in Pourakino Valley, in Western Southland. After finishing his schooling he went to Lincoln University for four years and then moved into a research agronomist position.

In 2020 Sam and his partner moved to Southland to be closer to the family farm and start the succession process. 

Zac Thomas. Photo: Supplied

Zac works as a Stock Manager on the family sheep and arable farm at Charlton. They currently run 2400 ewes and grow 100ha of cereal crops annually. Zac and his wife also own a small block of their own where they run 100 ewes and grow cereals.

He was born and raised in Mataura and has loved farming ever since he was young.

Zac spent three years serving as a Safety & Surface Technician in the Royal New Zealand Airforce, followed by a short stint contracting in the greater Auckland area. He returned to the family farm in 2017 and has since been developing his skills with the goal to own his own farm in the future.

CLICK HERE to find out more about the Otago Southland regional final.