Saturday, March 30, 2024

Young blood comes in from the cold

Neal Wallace
As the country shivered this week through its coldest period of winter so far, 28-year-old Nigel Woodhead conceded the timing wasn’t great.
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For the past nine months or so the newly-crowned FMG Young Farmer of the Year confessed to most days making sure his stock was shifted, healthy and fed before returning home to study and prepare for the annual contest.

Now, as the mercury plummets, he has no such excuse.

But the South Otago sheep and beef farmer added you don’t farm in the south of the South Island without warm, water-proof gear, and he was actually looking forward to braving the deluge of snow and rain to spend more time outdoors.

The Otago-Southland representative was also looking forward to being an ambassador for New Zealand Young Farmers, event supporters and agriculture in general, sharing his love of farming.

His victory at the grand final in Palmerston North just over a week ago was the culmination of a goal first considered as a youngster watching the final on TV, but seriously pursued in 2013 and 2014 when he was a regional finalist in Canterbury.

Woodhead always intended having a career in the farming sector.

The son of farming parents south of Milton, he attended Otago Boys’ High School, and then Lincoln University where he studied agriculture science. But the urge was to gain more experience before returning home to the farm.

“I wanted to cut my teeth off the farm.”

He achieved that by working as a technical representative for Midlands Seed in Ashburton, where he focused on export vegetable seed production.

“It was great. I loved it and would never have left if the farm wasn’t here.”

He was also extensively involved in NZ Young Farmers as a former chairman of the Pendarves Club, along with participation at district and regional level.

In 2015 Woodhead returned to the South Otago family farm but didn’t compete that year. In 2016 he contested the regional finals, and by his own admission, had a shocker.

“My head wasn’t in the right space. I had poor modules.”

But it created a steely resolve, and aware that he faced some torrid competition for the 2017 title from fellow regional competitors Steve Henderson and Allan Harvey, among others, ensured he was in a better state of mind.

He started preparations last October, won the regional title in February and, apart from a break when he married Leanne in March, buried himself in study by reading and memorising facts and figures to support arguments.

Former finalists shared their study material, he visited organisations such as the LIC deer genetic farm, and friends such as Beef + Lamb NZ extension manager Olivia Ross and wife Leanne constantly bombarded him with questions.

Woodhead said he knew that because New Holland and Honda were contest sponsors there would be modules involving their machinery, so he practiced driving them.

He backed himself on the practical challenges and focused on schooling-up on technical areas.

“I love being a farmer.”

Nigel Woodhead

FMG Young Farmer of the Year

Despite that, all seven finalists were sideswiped very early on the Thursday morning of the grand final when they came across a mock traffic accident involving nine “injured” people.

“I was more outside my comfort zone than for any other part of the competition,” Woodhead recalled.

He recovered from what proved to be the only significant weakness in his road to victory, which he attributed to his thorough preparation.

“I felt I had put myself in a pretty good position to be there or there-abouts.”

He was particularly pleased there were practical modules on butchery and truck driving, two areas of strength.

Part of his research was assessing the challenges from the other six finalists, and he said the quality of the line-up scared him since all were capable of winning.

One aspect of his preparation that gave him an edge was his ability to handle pressure.

A former rodeo bull rider, Woodhead remembered attending a riding school where most of the session was about mental preparation to create resilience, skills he was able to call on.

He said that inner strength also helped his confidence in speaking publicly, something he would have struggled with a year ago.

“I backed myself, I knew I had done the work – I just had to stay calm, find my trigger points and then let my mind do it.”

Woodhead said the enormity of his achievement, and the fact his name was etched in the trophy alongside people he admired, was still sinking in.

He was excited by the opportunity to advance NZ Young Farmers, the contest and its supporters and his own personal development, along with something especially close to him, promoting agriculture.

“I love being a farmer.”

He hopes to help urban and rural NZ reconnect, to emphasise the reality that urban needs rural and rural needs urban.

But for now life returns to running his 400ha, 3200-stock unit farm that he leases from his parents, while graphic designer wife Leanne can stop inundating him with questions and continue her other job as territory manager for Young Farmers.

Woodhead was the fourth Otago-Southland winner in 14 years, following three victors in successive years: Robert Kempthorne (2003), Simon Hopcroft (2004), and David Holdaway (2005).

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