Burnham couple to duke it out at Young Farmer comp

Burn­ham couple Vanessa Robinson and Martin Bates will be competing against each other in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Burn­ham couple Vanessa Robinson and Martin Bates will be competing against each other in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
A Burnham couple is getting set to compete against each other this weekend.

Vanessa Robinson and Martin Bates will be adversaries in their first FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest Tasman regional final at Innovation Park in Templeton, near Christchurch, on Saturday.

Martin, who qualified for last year’s regional final but was unable to attend due to a family wedding, said he was not taking anything for granted after Vanessa beat him in the Christchurch district contest.

‘‘It’s possible she might beat me, but I don’t want that to happen,’’ Martin, a qualified builder, said.

‘‘I’m stronger in the practical modules than she is, but I’m not as good at the theory modules.’’

Martin is a born and bred dairy farmer, having been born in the Far North before his family moved to Canterbury, where the 29-year-old has lived for the past 20 years.

In contrast, Vanessa grew up in South Auckland, but said she had no regrets leaving city life.

‘‘I’ve got family on farms, so I spent a lot of time on a farm and I loved it, so I decided to go to Massey University and then to Canterbury.’’

The 24-year-old completed a bachelor of agriscience and a master of science degree and now works as a farm solutions manager for LIC.

The couple contract milk 360 cows near Burnham for Martin’s parents and planned to step up to contract milking 1300 cows across two farms next season, with Martin in charge of the day-to-day operations.

Eventually, the couple planned to get into sharemilking and then farm ownership.

They will be in good company, with four Dunsandel Young Farmers Club members lining up among the eight finalists.

Martin said he looked forward to competing in the final.

‘‘It will be good to have a bit of a challenge going up against my mates and my partner.

‘‘There’s no fun if you’re just going to challenge yourself.’’

Vanessa said she looked forward to going up against another woman, with Dunsandel YFC member Megan Hands competing in her second regional final.

‘‘Everyone is keen to get involved and do something and it’s a practical thing to be a part of.

‘‘It looks like there’s a few women competing in the different regions, so it’s cool to see that because there were more girls than guys at district level [in Christchurch].

‘‘There’s quite a number of women working on farms who are capable of being recognised.’’

DAVID.HILL@alliedpress.co.nz 

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