"Expect the unexpected and don't make any assumptions."
That's the message from National Bank Young Farmer Contest grand final organising committee convener Elliot Scott to the seven grand finalists.
The event is being held in Dunedin this week, with the official opening at Wall Street on Wednesday, agri-growth and agri-business challenges at AgResearch Invermay on Thursday, the agri-skills challenges and agrisports at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Friday, and the televised evening show at the Edgar Centre on Saturday.
Otago-Southland is represented by Pete Gardyne, who will be joined by Andrew Scott (Aorangi), Michael Lilley (Tasman), Sam Williams (Waikato-Bay of Plenty), Tony Dowman (East Coast), Brad Lewis (Taranaki-Manawatu) and Katherine Tucker (Northern).
The past few months had been a challenging time for the committee charged with organising the event and local support had been "fantastic", Mr Scott said.
He was particularly excited about the Forsyth Barr Stadium as a venue, saying it was going to "lift the bar" in terms of the practical day.
"It's just a totally unique venue.
"It's going to be great to showcase it, for the rest of the country to see its versatility."
While Mr Scott had not been too focused on the actual contestants, four, including Mr Gardyne, had previous grand final experience.
Having been to the grand final himself - he finished third in 2006 - he knew that would definitely be an advantage for them, but only in terms of preparation.
"When they get here, everybody's got equal opportunities," he said.
The TeenAg and AgriKidsNZ grand finals were shaping up to be the biggest yet and all the qualifying teams would make the trip to Dunedin.
While the Young Farmer Contest was Young Farmers' showpiece, there was so much more to the organisation than just the contest, Mr Scott said.
The Young Farmers national conference is also being held in conjunction with the event, with the theme of The Great Outdoors.
Young Farmers' members will compete in the national fencing and stock judging competitions alongside the technical day.
The Agmardt Agribusiness Breakfast, on Friday morning, has the theme Licence to Operate: A Regulatory Barrier or Market Opportunity?
Speakers include Lincoln University vice-chancellor Dr Andrew West, Fish and Game chief executive Bryce Johnson, Federated Farmers dairy chairman Willy Leferink and Sealord chief executive Graham Stuart.