Emma Poole says she is “a mum first, a farmer second and a vet part time”. While juggling those demanding commitments, she also won the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in 2023.
She was the first – and still the only – female winner. After accepting the national title at the prizegiving in Timaru she said: “We’ve finally knocked the grass ceiling off the roof.”
“It has been awesome to watch other women on their own journey in the competition,” says Emma. “I know how hard it can be to compete and juggle other aspects of life especially when you are a mother, but hopefully they have that little bit of extra confidence now so that they know it is possible to win this thing!”
Emma and her husband Chris milk 1,000 cows across two farms in Pirongia. They have two young children and she is also a livestock vet. Chris was runner up in the 2022 Grand Final with Emma’s brother Tim the winner.
“It’s a family event as we have been around it for a few years,” she says. “We are spread around the country so the final has been a great way to connect and all get together and have a good feed.
“My main memory of the day is the nerves and the excitement and the feeling of wanting to get to the other side. You need to do a lot of preparation for the final and I had one child at the time.
“On the day, there was a bit of joy and happiness as we went through the modules. You challenge yourself, learn things about yourself and surprise yourself too.
“Even after all that preparation, there are likely to be things that come up on the day that are new to you and surprise you. You just have to figure it out and nut your way through it. That builds confidence – I think that is one of the great things about the competition.”
Emma says the experience was both a growth opportunity and opened up new opportunities.
“You learn a lot about yourself, how you respond to pressure and work under pressure. I found I was more than capable of doing things I wouldn’t have thought I could.
“You can take as much as you want to from the experience. It has opened up so many opportunities for me, such as speaking to different groups and an invitation to be a brand ambassador, which I am still doing.”
Her favourite part of the final was the agri-sports.
“That really is the highlight. I didn’t feel like anything was going really well for me but I was still enjoying it and you just have to move on from each module and keep going
“Then agri-sports is such fun at the end. You are exhausted and then the organisers just put on this really cool event and you cross the finishing line and all the competitors give each other a big hug. You give your family and supporters a big hug too because you have been so busy competing, you haven’t seen them.”
The bond forged among the finalists was such that they are all still in touch.
“We have a group chat and talk most days and share stuff about our farms.
“To anyone thinking of entering but not sure, I’d say “what’s your excuse’? I kept making excuses, that I was too busy – or too scared – but there is so much to be gained from doing it.”
