The south’s most competent, agriculturally-minded secondary school students brought their A-game to Telford agricultural campus recently, where they competed in school teams, to see who would be crowned champion in Agri Futures ‘Clash of the Colleges’.
The event, the brainchild of Agri Futures, was hosted for the first time by Telford, on 13th September, and brought together eleven teams of four students each, competing from across Otago and Southland. Well-known rural personality, Tangaroa Walker of Farm4Life, was MC, and directed the day’s activities for Aurora College, Blue Mountain College, Central Southland College, East Otago High School, Maruawai College (formerly Gore High School), Otago Boys’ High School, Southland Boys’ High School, Southland Girls’ High School, St Peter’s College, Taieri College, and Tokomairiro High School. Snow-affected Mount Aspiring College and Dunstan High School were unable to attend, however, Telford Trades Academy students on campus that day joined in the fun and participated - around 120 people attended overall.
The idea behind the competition is to have the student teams move quickly, under competition pressure, through a series of modules covering a wide range of all things agricultural – from sulky races to weeds and pest identification – with a six-minute time limit at each module.
Telford Marketing Officer, Billie-Marie Henry, said the campus facilities were well suited to catering for the one-day competition; Telford’s international-standard, all-weather Equine arena was filled with activities – most of the 16 modules were located there; it was the first time the clash had been held largely indoors.
“It worked really well,” Miss Henry stated, adding there was room to grow the event at Telford. “The Agri Futures team were impressed with the space our facility has and could see expansion in terms of the number of teams we can handle.”
Running six modules in the clash, Telford incorporated a range of hands-on skills which are taught through their core programmes. Miss Henry explained the modules all demonstrated the practical nature of Telford’s qualifications: ATV (all-terrain vehicle) tyre replacement, showcasing the campus’s ATV equipment; Hand piece set-up module, from the Certificate in Farming Systems and Equipment; Wool identification from the wool classing unit - Certificate in Agriculture; Primary Industries Equipment ID; Apiculture module (Bees), relates to the New Zealand Certificate in Apiculture; and the Sulky race, showcased Telford’s quality equine facilities and programmes.
Stakeholders from across the sector ran diverse activities for the other ten modules, including fencing, CPR with St John, fish identification, forestry, and drenching with Clutha Vets.
Agri Futures primary objective is to give students the chance to get hands-on and experience first-hand what rural life is all about. The day “absolutely achieved this,” Miss Henry stated, adding it also created positive connections for students with the region’s premier agricultural training hub. “It allowed them access to our training facilities.”
Telford Dip Ag student, Mackenzie-May Woodrow volunteered as a helper to support the event, quoting the expression “Many hands make light work”. Seeing the schools “getting involved and taking an interest in agriculture” was particularly enjoyable, and she thought the most popular modules were the fun ones - ‘Gumboot Throw’ and ‘Sulky Race’, adding “It was quite laugh to watch,” and some interesting gumboot throwing techniques were trialled.
Miss Woodrow believed the day was good value for the young competitors, because it gave them an overall view of the agricultural sector, and “they got to experience common, day-to-day things that can happen, such as changing an ATV tyre, fencing, drenching and agronomy - handling crop seeds.” The environmental aspects of farming were also on display, such as dealing with baleage plastic wrap and planting native trees; students had contact with businesses “who were keen to show what the agricultural sector is all about. It was well run and definitely a really good day out for everyone,” she concluded.
Results:
Senior:
1st - Otago Boys High School: Dustin Young, Charlie Hore, Henry Chittock, Toby McLean
2nd - Southland Boys' High School
3rd - Taieri College: Archie Eaton, Elise Mathais, Cameron Ter Woorst, Samuel McLeod
Junior:
1st - Blue Mountain College: Addie McHutchon, Anna Herriot, Jeremy Sanford, Angus Weir.
2nd - Maruawai College: Charlie Sprenger, Bryon McClintock, Tristan Nel, Jack Davidson.