YOUNG FARMERS’ DISTRICT NOW IN 21ST YEAR

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28534, 13 March 1958, Page 11

YOUNG FARMERS’ DISTRICT NOW IN 21ST YEAR

The Christchurch district committee of the Young Farmers’ Club movement, which is sponsoring this week’s farm machinery demonstration, will next week celebrate its twenty-first birthday. The local district, which is one of the strongest in the country, has a membership of 650—about 350 in country clubs and 300 in school clubs. The country clubs include Darfield, Sheffield, Hororata, Ellesmere, West Melton, Ladbrooks, Waihora and Springston and Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln. There are also five secondary school clubs at St. Andrew’s, Christ’s, St. Bede’s and Christchurch Technical Colleges and Christchurch Boys’ High School. In the Avon club Christchurch has the only Young Farmers’ Club in a city in New Zealand. Among this club’s members are employees of stock and station firms and young men off small farms on the borders of the city.

to the outbreak of World War II the clubs in the district continued to expand and flourish and in 1938 two further clubs were established at Ladbrooks and West Melton. During the war years, however, like many other organisations the movement went through a period of difficulty and with many members in the armed forces one by one clubs were forced to close down until only two remained— Darfield and Ellesmere. School Clubs By the end of the war three school clubs had been formed at St. Andrew’s College, Christ’s College and Christchurch Technical College and soon after Springston and Ladbrooks were reformed and subsequently a new club came into being at Sheffield. Last November the West Melton club was reformed but attempts to reform a club at Dunsandel have not yet borne fruit. The national movement now has 10,600 members in 369 clubs. The movement has a diverse range of activities on both a national and local level. Each year debating is carried from a district level to a national final and there are also national stock judging, rifle shooting and radio leadership contests. The radio leadership contest concludes with the New Zealand

finalist competing against an Australian young farmer alternately in Australia and New Zealand. Overseas exchange travel is an important aspect of club activities. Each year two New Zealand young farmers go to the United Kingdom and two to the United States of America under schemes sponsored by the New Zealand Meat, Wool and Dairy Boards. Six young farmers also visit Australia each year under another set of schemes. In addition local scholarships take young farmers to agricultural colleges. On a purely local basis there are field days and general field days when activities range from dog trials to tractor backing contests, ploughing matches and lectures mainly on farming subjects but also on matters of general educational value such as overseas travel. Important Issues For some years the movement has been keenly interested in land settlement of young farmers on the land and it has also devised its own scheme for tackling the hydatid problem in this country. These subjects were under discussion with the last Government and shortly deputations will wait on the new Government to obtain its views on these vital matters.

The Christchurch district was formed as a result of a reorganisation which took place in August, 1936. The five original clubs were Teddington, Peninsula (later changed to Waihora), Hororata, Dunsandel and Darfield. Three more clubs were formed in the first year. They were Ellesmere. Little River and Springston. Up