Nigel Woodhead says he can’t think of any other industry that puts on a competition as challenging, prestigious and rewarding as the FMG New Zealand Young Farmer of the Year.
“In terms of the event itself, the amazing prize package, the support from FMG and other sponsors and the huge amount of organising by NZ Young Farmers. It is unique and very special,” says the 2017 Grand Final winner.
“Other countries have similar competitions but I don’t know if the Grand Final is as tough as our one.
“Preparing for it was the hardest thing I have ever done. I have never in my life put in as much effort into anything as I did into that competition and it was incredible to win.”
Nigel, who farms sheep and beef over 400 hectares with wife Leanne at Milton, near Dunedin, grew up in a family who were strongly committed to NZ Young Farmers. Watching the Grand Final on TV was an annual family tradition.
“My dad took part in Young Farmers events and my mum competed too, in things like the Hansells-Young Farmers cooking competitions.
“Every year, my grandparents would tape the Grand Final on VHS and we would all sit down and watch it together. It was pretty cool and I thought it would be great to be on stage like that one day.”
He started competing in district Young Farmer of the Year events in 2010 and gradually worked up to regional level.
“I recognised that people who were beating me to second place had done a lot more preparation, so in 2017 I put a lot more effort in and won the regional.
“Then I recognised that as I was going to be in the Grand Final, I had to knuckle down and put a lot of work in. That was four or five months of intense preparation with a lot of help from my wife, family and friends.
“I was fortunate in that I was already farming here by then and being my own boss made it easier for me to do that.”
The couple got married in between Nigel qualifying and competing in the Grand Final and delayed their honeymoon so he could prepare for the event. That ranged from working on individual skills to a lot of reading, Leanne testing him with quick fire questions for the quiz session and boosting his fitness with gym visits.
Nigel says the session FMG provides with a sports psychologist on the evening before the challenges get under way was also critical to his success.
“We did that all together, as a group with the other contestants. I had worked so hard and thought I was prepared mentally for it and ‘what will happen will happen’ but I didn’t realise how nervous I would be.
“It went into that session tied in knots and I came out feeling absolutely focused and cool, calm and collected. It is how you think about and process things.”
From there, Nigel thoroughly enjoyed himself throughout the entire Grand Final, which was held in Palmerston North.
“It was a hell of a fun week. I was lucky in that everything that came up suited my skill set – but then I had done so much was planning and preparation and it felt like that all came together and fell into place.
“One of my first bosses once told me ‘if you want something badly enough and put the work in, the harder you work, the luckier you get’ and that’s true – if you prepare well enough then you will be best placed to ‘get lucky’ and succeed.
“The workload is really intense. From the Wednesday through to the prizegiving, it is ‘go go’ the whole time but that was also one of the best aspects for me, rising to the occasion under pressure.
“One of the most important things is not capitulating under that pressure. If something doesn’t go well, you have to be able to mentally move straight on from that.
“For something I had put myself under so much pressure for, to come through the week with a smile on my face felt pretty cool.”
Nigel says that right up to the moment his name was announced at the prizegiving, he didn’t allow himself to believe that he had won.
“I knew all the contestants would be exceptionally sharp and skilled and I already knew Hamish Best, who came second and Andrew Wiffen who came third, and how good they are.
“I felt if I could beat them, then I had a chance of winning. But when Andrew was announced as third and then Hamish as second, I didn’t think I had won, I thought ‘I haven’t come second or third, I’ve messed this up’.
“There is a photo of me with my head in my hands as Hamish was speaking after receiving his prize. I looked up and saw the photographer hiding behind a curtain with his camera pointed at me and thought ‘that’s weird’ and then I was announced as the winner.
“Winning is massive. The prize package is incredible but it also opened so many doors for us. We got to do an enormous amount of cool stuff because of it. It gets your name out there and people come to you for your opinions and advice.”
Nigel is still in touch with his fellow contestants.
“We all still keep in touch pretty regularly. It is a big thing to go through together for a week and you end up pretty tight. They are awesome people. Sometimes it’s banter and sometimes it’s discussion or advice about things on farm.”
He’s also still involved with NZ Young Farmers, encourages others to enter and was recently in Dunedin helping a member prepare for the regional competition.
“There are absolutely no downsides to it. Just from competing in general, you will learn heaps and meet all sorts of amazing people and opportunities will pop up. I’d say to anyone ‘give it a crack’, what’s the worst that can happen?”
