Hew Zealand Young Former Second in Leadership Contest of Sydney Royal Show

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 78, Issue 5, 16 May 1949, Page 519

Hew Zealand Young Former Second in Leadership Contest of Sydney Royal Show

Anew Zealand young farmer was selected to compete in a leadership contest to be decided in a half-hour broadcast from the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s Sydney Showground studio during the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The successful young New Zealander who made the trip was Gilbert Evans, of the Carterton Young Farmers’ Club, in the Wairarapa district. The final was broadcast on Thursday, April 14, and Evans upheld the confidence placed in him by the judges of the Dominion final by winning second award in competition with State champions from all over Australia.

THE competition, inaugurated 2 years ago and sponsored by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, was open to members of junior farmers’ clubs or their equivalent (such as young farmers’ clubs and junior branches of the Agricultural Bureau) in the 6 States of the Commonwealth — New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. In both 1947 and 1948, elimination tests, followed by broadcast competitions,

were held to select the champion in each State and the 6 finalists were brought together to compete in a halfhour broadcast to determine the junior farmer champion leader.

Earlier Contests

The final in 1947 was broadcast from the showground during the Royal Easter Show at Sydney. The 6 State champions were entertained as guests of the A.B.C. for 10 days. The contest was compered by Mr. Bernard Carter, one of Australia’s foremost rural commentators, and the judges were Mr. John Green, Director of Rural Broadcasts for the 8.8. C., and Mr. Wallace Kadderly, an agricultural expert from Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., both of whom were visiting Australia at that time. Because of the varying age limits of the organisations in different States, the contest was arbitrarily confined to members between the ages of 16 and 21 years. The contestants were judged in an ad lib. broadcast, during which the compere put leading questions designed to test their farming knowledge and give opportunity for revealing leadership qualities and personality. The contest was won on that occasion by 20-year-old Austin Ninnes, of South Australia. The prize was a month’s tour of New Zealand, sponsored by the A.B.C. Ninnes arrived in Auckland by air on April 10 and was met by the New Zealand Y.F.C. organising secretary, who interviewed him over Station IYA Auckland the following evening. His itinerary, originally planned for 1

month, covered many important farming centres in the Dominion. He visited a number of Y.F.C. units in various districts, and broadcast 3 times, including the Auckland interview, in each case on a national link. The Y.F.C. Federation sponsored a further 10 days’ tour so that areas in Otago and Southland could be visited. Ninnes made many friends while in the Dominion, and will be remembered for his size alone; he was then 6ft. 4in. tall and weighed nearly 14 stone. His main interests were fat lamb raising and soil-erosion problems. ™ , , . ~ The 1948 contest was run on similar lines and the final was broadcast from ' the studio at the Melbourne Royal Agricultural Century Show. The broadcast was again compered by Mr. Carter, the judges on this occasion being Professor S. M. Wadham, president of the Chamber of Agriculture, and Mr. A. F. Caddy, a council member of the Chamber of Agriculture and a prominent grazier and stud breeder, The prize in this contest was a sponsored tour of any State in the Commonwealth selected by the winner. Athol Barratt, of Western Australia, who gained the award, chose to tour Tasmania.

New Zealand Invited to Participate . „ .„ „ . „ This year the A..8.C. invited the New Zealand Federation of Young Farmers Clubs to send a member to take part \ n the competition, to be known as the Australasian Junior Farmer Leadership Contest and to be broadcast dur - 15S the Sydney Royal Easter Show, The federation accepted the invitation, which included 10 days hospitality and entertainment in Sydney during the show period The conditions were the same as in the previous competitions 'the contestants to be bona fide members of young farmers clubs, between 16 and 21 years of age, and engaged in farming. ' The first step toward selecting the New Zealand representative was to circularise clubs giving each the opportunity to nominate 1 competitor in a district elimination contest. Considerable interest was aroused in most districts, but it is possible that, because of the New Zealand Y.F.C. age limit of 30 years, some of the clubs regarded the competition’s limit of 21 years as too much of a handicap and took no action. The elimination tests resulted in 30 entries being received from the 38 Y.F.C. districts in the four council areas; Otago-Southland, with 6 dis-

tricts had 5 entries; Canterbury (8 districts), 6 entries; Wellington (11 districts), 7 entries; and Auckland (13 districts), 12 entries. To determine the council finalists, broadcasts were held in the council centres: — March 2: 4YA Dunedin (linked with 4YZ Invercargill). Questionmaster, Mr. S. R. Whyte; judges, Professor F. Soper, Messrs. A. C. Drake and A. Stuart. March 8: 3YA Christchurch (linked with 2XN Nelson). Questionmaster, Mr. R. Bevin; judges, Messrs. L. W. McCaskill, M. Fleming, and C. C. Leitch. March 9: IYA Auckland. Questionmaster, Mr. A. J. Kerse; judges, Messrs. H. Wood-year-Smith and .G. R. Bentley. . March 11: 2ZA Palmerston North (linked with 2YA Wellington. 2XP New Plymouth, 2XG Gisborne, and 2YZ Napier). Questionmaster, Mr. I. G. Tabor; judges, Mr. M. H. Oram, M.P., and Mr. A. C. Buist. 7 ' The winners of these intermediate contests were: Otago-Southland, lan Vercoe (Upper Manuherikia Club); Canterbury, Denis Frederick Power (Rangiora Club); Wellington, Gilbert James Evans (Carterton Club); and Auckland, William Allan Smith (Te Awamutu Club). The final of the Dominion contest was broadcast over 2YA Wellington on Friday, March 18, on a national link, and was listened to with great interest by young farmers and others throughout the Dominion. The Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Cullen, was present in the studio, and the questionmaster on this occasion was the Hon. F. Waite, M.L.C., Balclutha, who has been associated with the Y.F.C. movement in New Zealand since its inception and who takes a keen interest in farming generally. Mr. R. B. Tennent, Assistant Director-General, Department of Agriculture, and Dr. W. M. Hamilton, Assistant Secretary (Agriculture and Biology) Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, were the judges. The winner, Evans, left Auckland by flying boat for Sydney on Friday. April 8. He took part in the contest at the Royal Show, Sydney, remaining with the other competitors for 10 days as a guest of the A.B.C. This year’s prizes were £25 for the champion and £lO for the runner-up. Through all phases of the competition in the Dominion a very nigh standard was maintained, and a feature of the final contest was the farming knowledge revealed and the confidence displayed by the 4 competitors. It was fully expected that the New Zealand Y.F.C. competitor in the Australasian contest at Sydney would be a credit both to the organisation and to the Dominion which he represented. The New Zealand Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs is grateful to all those who assisted in the competition in various ways. The contest has done much to bring the movement to the notice of many radio listeners not intimately connected with farming.

YOUNG FARMERS’ LEADERSHIP CONTEST

A Patriotic Cow

A blue roan Milking Shorthorn cow that exhibits a fecundity little short of ** a bovine record for 3 successive , pregnancies is a member of the dairy herd of Mr. William J. Spring, Seadown, Timaru. The cow is now a 5-year-old and from 3 successive pregnancies she has produced 7 calves. She first calved as a 3-year-old with twins, then as a 4-year-old with another set of twins, and on January 27, 1949, she calved as a 5-year-old with a magnificent set of patriotic triplets consisting of a red bull, a white bull, and a blue heifer. Their total birth weight was 1601 b. The photograph shows the cow and her 3 sturdy calves.

—M. C. ARMSTRONG,

?, Veterinarian, Department of Agriculture, Timaru.

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