25 Mar 2014

Thrice bridesmaid finally the bride

6:33 am on 25 March 2014

A determined Dwayne Cowin has taken out the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Young Farmer of the Year competition - after three years of placing second.

The 28-year old stock manager from Lochinver Station, near Taupo, also took out the prize for financial skills and practical farm skills.

Mr Cowin said he was determined to win.

"Came extremely close last year to taking out the title and just missed out by two points so, yeah, it made me as determined as ever to get there this year - to benchmark my skills against other people, against myself and other people, and probably also the networking opportunities that it provides," he said.

"I think it helps big time with employment opportunities - it's definitely something that is a big plus on anyone's CV."

The competition tests a huge array of skills, from boning out a leg of venison and velvet grading to doing a facial eczema spore count and timber milling.

Mr Cowin said it wasn't easy at times, and he hadn't done some of the tasks often before.

"There was a bit of engineering, which involved gas cutting and welding. And there was also a pest control module which involved setting up a whole lot of traps to control different pests like possums, stoats and rats. So I hadn't done too much of those two things," he said.

Mr Cowin, who took home a prize pack worth more than $10,000, said he would enter the regional competition again next year if he did not win the national competition in Christchurch in July.