Red Band gumboots were seen in large numbers last week, when nearly 300 high school students from 19 schools across the region gathered at Telford campus near Balclutha, to compete in the 2nd annual Otago Southland Clash of the Colleges.
After holding the popular event for the first time last year, Telford increased the number of students from 113 to 280 students who competed on 4th September. MC, Tangaroa Walker of Farm4Life, set the tone of the day with a combination of energy and fun, keeping the teams of four informed and moving at pace through the 17 modules which had a 90-minute time limit.
Telford Campus Manager, Ali Roxburgh, said by utilising Telford’s indoor equine arena the event is weatherproofed; it was the perfect location with plenty of space for students, where they were tested on general agricultural skills and knowledge - forestry, wool, meat, feeds and weeds, dairy, beekeeping, recycling and much more, as well as fun activities such as the gumboot throw, duck shooting and thoroughbred hobby horse racing. “It’s a great day, it allows 280 students to see a little bit of what we’re about here,” Mr Roxburgh said.
Describing their approach to engaging students as “very proactive”, Mr Roxburgh said Telford’s mantra was “teaching all the time”, and students got a taste of that on the day. New this year were campus tours in between competing; students viewed the facilities and saw Telford students working with stock and dogs.
Agri Futures General Manager, Daniel O’Regan, is on a mission to grow the number of scholarships (of around $1,000 each) available through the Agri Futures event. “Last year there were 9, this year there are 14; we hope to grow it by securing more sponsors,” he said. Established by the New Zealand Rural Games Trust, Agri Futures exists to motivate, support and empower young people to pursue food and fibre careers.
Any student who competed in the Clash of the Colleges event is eligible for the scholarships. And students who participated in their community were "higher up the ranking and more likely to meet selection criteria", Mr O’Regan explained. “They help others; we help them with their education.” The event is supported by Danone, MPI On Farm, New Zealand Rural Games Trust and the Otago Community Trust. He also gave a shout-out to Silver Fern Farms for their support - their free barbecue was very popular. "The day was … awesome”, he said.
New Zealand Rural Games Trust member, Athol Stephens, grew up on a farm in the area, “just over the hill” from Telford, and was invested in seeing young people train utilising Telford, to enter the agricultural sector with skills. “It’s a really good thing that kids 16 – 17 years of age who don’t know what they want to do, see aspects of rural life that might just open the door to a career.” Mr Stephens noted the considerable number of girls competing was a positive sign and there was a good variety of topics covered in the modules. “Forestry, weeds and grass types, understanding the structure of farms… here’s an opportunity to gain new ideas and open their eyes to the possibilities.”
Hon Mark Patterson MP, Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister of Agriculture, attended the event and described it as “a fantastic, brilliant taster,” saying he believed it would spark the imaginations of the students who took part. “This is a magnificent promotion for Telford,” he said. “There’s a real need to raise Telford’s profile so more people can discover the jewel in the crown that it truly is.”
Ingrid Leary MP for Taieri was impressed with the positive energy and enthusiasm of the event. “It’s lovely to be around,” she said, adding the good feelings generated on the day would help to promote training at Telford. Ms Leary noted quite a few students had looked around the campus. “It’s about young people curious about all things rural and farming. It’s piqued students’ interests around vocational training.” She expressed her thanks to the organisers, “especially Telford for continuing to make sure they’re a vibrant and relevant part of our Taieri community.”
Environment Southland Deputy Chair, Jeremy McPhail, said it was encouraging to see the numbers of youth at the day. “It’s the next generation of farmers. It’s great to see the interest in agriculture. This is the future.” He was excited there were double the numbers of students attending in the competition’s second year at Telford. “Environment Southland is really supportive of this type of event engaging schools. [Farming] is an important part of our economy.”
New to the event this year is international food and beverage company Danone, which has funded a scholarship specifically for South Otago students.
Danone’s local Release Manager, Brydie Matheson, said students engaged well in the ‘Milk quality from farm to factory’ module designed by the Balclutha-based company. “Discussions were carried out with the whole team for the varying exercises within the module; the students showed great teamwork.”
Ms Matheson saw the module as an opportunity to help broaden the dairy knowledge of students from sheep or beef backgrounds. “It was great to see so many schools had travelled to the event - I think it’s great for the industry,” she said.
Champion gumboot thrower for 2025 was Tristen Nel, Year 11 student at Muruawai College, Gore, who threw an impressive 25 metres. “Tangaroa gave me the idea to do a bit of a spin,” he said, and it worked. He received a goody bag and a trophy – a Red Band gumboot on a plinth. Mr Nel, who rated the day “a 12 out of 10”, is considering the option to go farming and had visited Telford before on a school trip but learned more this time. “I didn’t know about the engineering workshop and the welding bays.” Out of all the modules, he said the most interesting was ‘Meat Cuts’, guessing “What animal – cattle or sheep, and where they come from on the body.”
The day finished with a bonus round; there was laughing and cheering as eight students were selected to see who was the fastest at putting away a Jimmy’s pie, a dry weetbix and a bottle of milk, with some leaping over and under horse jumps required as well.
Winning teams on the day were Junior - Tokomairiro High School, Intermediate - Catlins Area School, Senior - Blue Mountain College.
Telford Farm Board Chair, Richard Young, said they would continue to develop the event, especially the campus tours, as well as include more local businesses in running the modules.
Telford is a faculty of Southern Institute of Technology
Results of the 2025 Clash of the Colleges:
- Intermediate Competition (awarded by Taieri MP Ingrid Leary):
- 1st With a score of 167, The Catlins Area School: Harry McDougall, Harry Lietze, Mackenzie Middleton-Martin, Riley Nish
- 2nd With a score of 162, Blue Mountain College: Cooper McHutchon, Mitchell Stiven, Lachie Fletcher, Henry Howden
- 3rd With a score of 159, Northern Southland College: Leah Drysdale, Elsie Selbie, Hannah Soper, Briar Drummond
- Junior (High School) Competition (awarded by the Hon. Mark Patterson, Minister of Rural Communities):
- 1st With a score of 163.5 from Tokomairiro High School: Isaac Foster, Andew Scanlan, Billy Mitchell and Cooper Bradley
- 2nd With a score of 163 from Blue Mountain College: Addie McHutchon, Hazell Scott, Ollie Patterson and Sam Beattie.
- 3rd With a score of 162 from Southland Girls’ High School: Fleur Blackmore, Georgia Eade, Laura Patterson and Hollie Johnson.
- Senior (High School) Competition (awarded by Danone New Zealand’s Human Resources Officer Caitlin Ward):
- 1st With a score of 165.5 from Blue Mountain College: Lara Heiss, Emily Reid, and Ella Stuart
- 2nd With a score of 163 from Dunstan High School: Grace Paterson, Brody Cornish, Charlie Batt and Wade McAtamney
- 3rd With a score of 162.5 from Otago Boys’ High School: Charlie Hore, Toby McLean, Dustan Young and Henry Chittock
- Gumboot Throw:
- Intermediate Girl: Caitlyn Joyce from Blue Mountain College –11m
- Intermediate Boy: Fletcher Duff from Northern Southland College – 15m
- Junior Girl: Georgia Eade from Southland Girls High School – 12m
- Junior Boy: Flynn Herbert from Tokomairiro High School – 14m
- Senior Girl: Mackayla Anderson from Taieri College – 15m
- Senior Boy: Tristen Nel from Maruawai College – 25m
- Team Spirit Award: Catlins Area School Team 17