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May 15 2018
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West Melton in Young Farmers final u by Mike Isle
West Melton Young Farmers club is in the running for New Zealand Young Farmers Club of the Year following its stunning win in the Tasman regional final of the competition. P4
Liffey plant out a success
More than 400 native trees have been planted …
P7
Selectors name initial squad
The Ellesmere rugby selectors have named their first representative squad … p West Melton Young Farmers Club members celebrate their success after taking out the Tasman Club of the Year title
P9
Droughts to bring more crop disease
New Zealand’s land-based primary industries need to get ready for more …
Club chair, Bex Legat, said 20 members, almost all the 26-strong club, will be heading to Invercargill on July 5 to attend the 50th FMG Young Farmer of the Year awards presentation. Ms Legat said the win was particularly stunning because as far as she can recall it is the only time West Melton had entered the club competition. “Eighteen of us went to the presentation at the regional awards night, and the Club of the Year award was the last presented on the night. When our name was read out, we were really stoked.”
Ms Legat thinks the West Melton club had the edge over the ten other clubs in the Tasman region because of its involvement in the community. “We have a very enthusiastic membership. We always have the largest turnout for Young Farmers events, and we volunteer for quite a lot of community and charity events helping with the traffic management and things like that. We are always looking at ways to support other clubs and the region,” she said. Recently the club organised the National Ploughing Association event
hosted by the Courtenay Paparua Ploughing Association. Association chair, Jeff Cridge, described West Melton Young Farmers’ involvement as “fantastic.” All gate takings from the event were returned by the club to the National Ploughing Association. Earlier in the club’s busy schedule, they volunteered at the recent Jump for Cancer event in Hagley Park. The club is heavily involved with charity work, Ms Legat said. continued on page 3 …