FOR someone who had no connection to agriculture until she went to university, Samantha Tennent has immersed herself in it since.
Most recently, Tennent, general manager at XLVets dairy farmer assurance programme WelFarm, was part of the team that organised the Marton Young Farmers Club’s 80th reunion last year, which won Event of the Year. She also shared the Service to Young Farmers award with Rachel Stewart from Christchurch City Young Farmers.
Held just before lockdown last year, the reunion included a social barbecue, events at the rural games in Palmerston North and a night show at Awapuni Racecourse that attracted more than 240 people, including some who travelled from Australia to celebrate.
She says current and past members of the club put a lot into organising the event and the community also got on board, so she is pleased their efforts were recognised.
“We were really gunning for the award,” Tennent said.
“Our club has a rich history. We have had a number of competitors in the Young Farmer of the Year competition and a strong representation across the rural sector.
“I put a lot of it down to the diversity in our members. We capture the Rangitikei region, which encompasses a range of industries. It’s not just physical farmers that make up our membership.”
A former Marton club chair, Tennent’s own connections with the club have come over two separate periods.
She initially joined when, after finishing a bachelor of veterinary technology at Massey University, she moved to the back blocks of the Hunterville/Taihape area.
“I had a partner at the time who was a shepherd-general on a big station and it was from there that I really started getting involved in Young Farmers,” she said.
She already knew of the organisation from her time at Massey and was aware there was a Marton club.
“I’d met their chair through Hunterville rugby club, because that was one of the community things we had. We were all involved in the rugby club,” she said.
“So I guess I just wandered along to a couple of Marton meetings and the rest is kind of history.”
Having moved away from the area, Tennent has also been involved with the Whanganui and Cambridge clubs but the pull of the Marton club was strong when she returned to Palmerston North to work for DairyNZ.
“I thought about joining one of the clubs closer to Palmerston North but Marton was my original club and I couldn’t really see myself fitting anywhere else, so I ended up doing the commute,” she said.
“That’s the strength of the club; people join and then have their place and they’ll travel far and wide to be part of the club.”
She says that’s helped Marton endure when some other clubs have folded as modern life changed the needs and increased accessibility for people in rural communities to outside influences.
The service award that Tennent was jointly awarded with Stewart recognises the unsung heroes of clubs, districts and regions. The people who are the first there and the last to leave, the first to put their hand up to help and provide support and mentoring for others.
Tennent did not know she had been nominated and has been heartened by the feedback she has had since receiving the award.
“Winning the award is one thing, but the kind of messages of appreciation and support from my Young Farmers comrades has been incredible,” she said.
“One person said there won’t be many people in Young Farmers who don’t know my name. That really hit home.
“I guess you never know how far your efforts reach. I just like helping create awesome things and I learn heaps from helping out. I’ve met some incredible people along the way.
“I cannot promote the connections enough; I’ve built such an extensive network of friends and contacts. I met my lawyer, accountant and even my partner through the organisation and I’m so keen to keep sharing the word about what being involved can offer.
“The power of the network means no matter where you go or what you do, there’s guaranteed friends and support. You look after your own.
“You truly get out what you put in with things like Young Farmers and I’ve definitely gotten more back than I feel like I’ve ever given.
“So, my advice to any young people starting out on the Young Farmers journey is just sign up for everything. Put your name down, give it a go. You’ve got absolutely nothing to lose.
“If nothing else you’re going to meet someone new, you’re going to develop a skill that will pay off later in your career. You might fall in love with something you’ve never considered before.”
