Give it a go, rural youth advised

New Zealand Young Farmers Otago-Southland field officer Leanne Oosthuizen is encouraging young...
New Zealand Young Farmers Otago-Southland field officer Leanne Oosthuizen is encouraging young people to joining the organisation. PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE
Young Farmers is about ''getting out there and giving it a go''.

That is the message from Leanne Oosthuizen, the organisation's field officer for Otago and Southland.

Ms Oosthuizen, who lives on a farm near Milton, has a passion for the primary industries that she is keen to share with others.

Brought up on a tobacco farm in Zimbabwe, Ms Oosthuizen moved to New Zealand with her family when she was 15.

Her father Danie represented Zimbabwe at the world ploughing championships, including competing in the World Ploughing Contest in Outram in 1994, and New Zealand appealed to him as a place to move to when it came to a ''life change''.

The family settled in Ashburton and Ms Oosthuizen spent her last two years of secondary school at Ashburton College.

She loves telling her ''story'' to young people through her involvement with Young Farmers.

Now living in Otago with her partner Nigel Woodhead, she travels throughout Otago and Southland through her full-time role.

She is heavily involved with TeenAg clubs, of which there are 12 throughout the region.

TeenAg aims to introduce and promote a positive picture about agriculture and agricultural careers from an early age.

There were two core elements to TeenAg; the TeenAg competition series, which began in 2011, and TeenAg clubs.

The competition runs alongside the ANZ Young Farmer Contest regional finals across the seven regions and culminates at the contest's grand final.

This year's TeenAg champions were the ''Southern Lads'' from Otago-Southland, Thomas Slee and William Brown, from Southland Boys' High School.

TeenAg clubs provide a context for learning about agriculture and a place to develop broader life skills, and there are clubs throughout the countryThere are 13 Young Farmers clubs throughout Otago-Southland (North Otago comes under the Aorangi region).

While the clubs tended to run themselves, Ms Oosthuizen was there to provide members with information and build key contacts with industry partners.

Interested young people do not have to be from a rural background.

She felt very lucky not only to have met someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but that the couple had the chance to lease the Woodhead family farm.

Her local Toko Young Farmers club was small but it was also a good way to meet other young people in the area.

She encouraged young people to ''give it a go'' and attend a club meeting to meet like-minded people.

Networking provided an opportunity to make contacts that could prove useful in the future.

She was passionate about her job.

''I'm such a free-spirited person. I love meeting new people,'' she said.

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