It’s that time of the year again for the NZ Young Farmers (NZYF) Goldpine Fencing Tournament, where seven regions across New Zealand battle it out for the national title in the highly anticipated final in Taipuha, Northland.

With a noticeable contrast in weather patterns from last year’s final in Christchurch – which presented a crisp, sunny morning – the challenge for the seven teams of two this year was braving the mud and rain.

Just over 30 minutes south of Whangārei, it was all go at the NZYF Goldpine Fencing Tournament where the finalists had three hours to install a 7-wire batten fence and construct a timber gate. Even though the rain stuck around for the entire duration of the event, spirits remained high and each team soldiered on, factoring in skill, speed and efficiency.

The winners of the fencing championship this year were the youngest finalists of the competition, Fergus Casey and Cameron Artz who represent the East Coast region. This region consists of eight NZYF clubs, including Dannevirke, Eskview, Puketoi, South Wairarapa, Tikokino and Wairarapa. Last year, Fergus and Cameron came second place in the finals and continue to display a keen eye for precision and perfection.

Second place this year was Tasman finalists, Tom Rathgen and Jack Dawson, who were first off the line last year. Tom and Jack returned sporting singlets and a good dose of confidence, come rain or shine. You could tell that they were spending more time on their fence line ensuring they were ticking off the things that the judges would score them on, and it paid off!

Representing the mighty Waikato were Luke Hartnell and James Grafton, who were the last off the line but still maintained a humble third place. Luke Hartnell won the fencing championships last year with teammate Luke Holmes, which was a massive accomplishment. This year he took James under his wing, and with a few minor setbacks, they remained determined until the very end. James is a blacksmith by trade but works for Luke, fencing two to three days per week. With the pair prioritising the quality of the fence, they took their time and stayed focused.

“You want to get it right, but you don’t want to rush it. The whole idea is to produce a tidy job efficiently – you lose fewer points on time than you do for health and safety, and tidiness,” Luke said.

James thoroughly enjoyed his first fencing competition, commenting on the weather conditions and how he couldn’t understand how the other teams remained so clean. “We enjoyed rolling in the mud together,” Luke added with a smile.

Each region encounters different terrain; the finalists from last year were seen digging up rocks along their fence line, and this year presented soft clay and mud. The nature of fencing is working with the conditions you’ve been presented, so perseverance is key.

“You gotta do what you gotta do, but there are different fence styles for different places. If you’re a contractor, you’d do things slightly differently – hand-digging like this. There’s a couple of things I’m not really happy about on the fence, but you just gotta deal with what you’ve got,” Cam said.

Ryan and Cam installed their gate first before completing their fence. Their reasoning for this was to use their time efficiently, utilising their strengths and keeping themselves busy the whole time. “Everything is a one-man job, so keeping each other busy has worked out for us finishing first, but first isn’t always best,” Cam said.

We caught up with Taranaki/Manawatu finalists Sean Taylor and Sarah Lockhart after they finished installing their fence. Sean is a sheep and beef farmer whilst Sarah is an analyst at Rabobank, along with working as a sheep and beef farmer. They met through NZYF and have sheared sheep and fenced together. “The highlight of the day was finishing and being able to get out of the rain. The challenges were the mud and the wet poles – the post holes were filled with water,” Sean said.

This will be Sean’s third fencing competition and Sarah’s first time competing in the grand final.

“I’ve been a member of NZYF for seven years. Fencing is a good experience to do something a bit different and get critiqued on your technique. Whereas at home, you’re probably just racing to get the job done – technique is a bit more important here. I enjoy the perfection, it’s good to see when you do a good job,” Sarah said.

There was great camaraderie among the supporters with a large presence from Waikato/Bay of Plenty cheering on their region’s finalists. One supporter was holding their region mascot and displayed great enthusiasm for being a NZYF member, saying it’s a great way to meet people your age who also have a love for farming.

A massive congratulations to the first, second and third place winners and a solid effort to all of the finalists that participated in this year’s fencing competitions. We are beyond proud of your dedication and the workmanship that you continue to exude in the agricultural sector. We’re already looking forward to next year when the regions battle it out again for the national NZYF Goldpine fencing title in the South Canterbury city of Timaru.

NZYF Goldpine Fencing Tournament Winners

1st Cameron Artz and Fergus Casey

2nd Tom Rathgen and Jack Dawson

3rd Luke Hartnell and James Grafton