Opinion: Lessons from NZ in cultivating future farm leaders
© Adobe Stock The trophy was the biggest I’d ever seen. It stood proudly up on the stage, waiting to be thrown up in victory, with big words reading ‘Young Grower of the Year Award 2026’ behind it.
As the MC made her way across the stage, the room grew quiet. She stood to face a room of hundreds of people, including the minister for agriculture, the chair of Hort New Zealand, and representatives from all across NZ’s horticulture industry.
All waiting to know – who would win the Young Grower of the Year?
See also: Opinion – a ‘Wild’ group can help farming women prosper
About the author
Kate Tomlinson
Kate Tomlinson was raised on a family beef and sheep farm in County Durham before attending Harper Adams University. Formerly a rural chartered surveyor, she moved to New Zealand in 2022 and has since worked in the dairy industry and in research. She now works for Map of Ag as an agricultural sustainability consultant and farms whenever she can.
Read more articles by Kate Tomlinson
The MC leant forwards towards the mic. “And now to announce the winners.” Nervous stares. Fingers and toes crossed. Breath held. In first place… James Blair.
The table erupted in screams and shouts. James Blair, agronomist from Cumbria, was New Zealand’s 2026 Young Grower of the Year Award winner.
As we beamed up with pride at James on the stage, throwing his trophy in the air, I thought: I cannot think of a single thing that is comparable to this in the UK. This competition is harder and more expansive than anything we have at home, and it pushes people beyond what we could ever imagine.
The Young Grower of the Year Award is cross-sectoral: examining technical knowledge, public speaking, innovation and all of the components of what it takes to be a genuine leader in this industry.
There are nine components to it. An innovation section – essentially Dragons’ Den – where competitors have to develop a product, process or service for the industry and then pitch it to investors. Modules on integrated pest management. Crop establishment. Machinery. A biosecurity challenge. Low-emissions food production. Nutrition and fertigation. A leadership panel. Ending with a speech in front of hundreds of people, on a topic of your choosing.
It also doesn’t matter what sector you’re from – you have to learn about them all. Kiwis, potatoes, apples, blueberries, carrots, cherries … if you can grow it, you’ve got to know it.
But it’s not just the Young Grower competition. It’s the Young Farmer of the Year Award. The Horticulturist of the Year Award. New Zealand has these well-established, independent pathways for people to push themselves towards new opportunities in their sector.
Yes, we have challenging competitions at Young Farmers at home. We also have Nuffield scholarships. But New Zealand has both too, and that isn’t what these competitions are.
The publicity is incredible. If someone won a competition at Young Farmers in the UK, they might make some of the press and have a feature in the Young Farmers section, but they are not going to be front-page news.
Meanwhile, James’ face has been plastered across all of the rural magazines here, and he has had 12 interviews and counting in the few days since he won. What New Zealand is really doing is recognising its young people as leaders.
Last year I visited a farm. A successful, diverse business. And when the farmer introduced himself, he mentioned he’d won Young Farmer of the Year in 1974.
Eyebrows were raised and people nodded in approval, the way they might have done if he had said he’d competed at the Olympics. That’s going to be James.
In 20, 30, 40 years’ time, someone is going to point him out and say: he won Young Grower of the Year in 2026. Here, that’s going to mean something. Could we say the same thing about winning a Young Farmers competition at home?