There’s no place like home for sharemilker Justin Ruygrok.

The 28-year-old farmer works on a dairy farm in Aka Aka, a small town just 45 minutes south of Auckland.

After finishing boarding school and earning his Diploma in Agriculture, Justin found himself drawn back to his roots, setting up just down the road from the farm he grew up on.

“You can’t beat growing up on a farm,” he says. “There’s no better upbringing so I’m really grateful for my childhood.”

With Justin’s parents being passionate dairy farmers, it seemed logical for him to throw his hat in the ring too.

“I love the diversity of what farming has to offer. It enables you to almost be a jack of all trades with everything that’s involved.”

A typical day for Justin starts at around 5:30am to milk the cows, sometimes earlier if he wants to squeeze in a bit of fishing to start his day right. 

“It’s always good to get off the farm and do some hunting and fishing from time to time,” he says. “I’ve aways had a love for the outdoors.”

No stranger to his own company, Justin has worked solo for the last eight years. But he’s far from feeling lonely – the group of young keen farmers in the area keep him company with their regular catch ups.

“We always ring each other up, it’s like our own little community. Some of the boys have boats so we go out on the river after we’ve finished milking. It usually ends with a trip to the pub,” he laughs.

“It’s great to have discussions with others, even in the tough times. I suppose it’s pretty reassuring to know that people are going through similar things to you and are there to offer support.”

Initially, Justin didn’t know much about the FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition until he spoke to Season 54 winner Tim Dangen, who encouraged him to get involved at a Young Farmers meet up.

Inspired to give it a go, Justin surprised himself with how much he enjoyed the Regional Final.

“I put the work in, gave it a fair crack and it paid off. I was pretty stoked to win.”

"Looking ahead to July's Grand Final, the young farmer plans to talk with past contestants while counting on his own experience to give him a competitive edge in the competition."

“I like to think I’m quite practical. I’ve had a bit of experience just being a solo farmer. I’ve also had a lot of people offer to help me in the lead up to the Grand Final, as well as having my little support crew which has been really cool.”

As for the future, Justin is working towards land ownership and would love to see the younger generation getting involved in the farming industry.

“I think it’s always good to try and encourage young people to get into the industry because it’s awesome to be part of.”

“It’s how I got to where I am now,” he says.