Excitement is building for the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Contest Series Regional Finals, kicking off this Saturday in Waimumu.  

The Otago Southland Contest Series Regional Final is going ahead under the red light Covid Protection Framework with a 100-person limit and My Vaccine Pass requirements.   

New Zealand Young Farmers Chief Executive Lynda Coppersmith says it's exciting to be able to continue to host events with clear Government guidelines in place.  

"Over the last two years the Contest Series has been seriously impacted by COVID, but our teams have done an amazing job of pivoting with different alert levels, restrictions and all the different scenarios that have arisen," she said.  

"This contest season is different because we have more certainty and measures in place to allow us to run events while keeping our communities, spectators, staff and competitors safe with vaccine pass checks, masks and outdoor hosting." 

Usually the three levels of contest – FMG Young Farmer of the Year, FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year and AgriKidsNZ– run at the same regional final.  

However under the red traffic light system, each event is being run separately and capped at 100 people.  Meanwhile the FMG Young Farmer of the Year evening shows are also capped at 100 with limited tickets on sale until the country moves out of red.  

The events will also be livestreamed on the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Facebook page so that nobody misses out and everyone can tune in to be part of the action, despite the capacity limits in place.  

"The spirit of the FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest series can and will shine through any red light. We're hoping this season will run relatively uninterrupted and finish with the best FMG Young Farmer of the Year standing on the podium," Coppersmith said.