Waikato farmer Emma Poole was crowned the FMG Young Farmer of Year on Saturday night.
28-year-old Poole is the first female winner of the contest in its 55-year history.
Seven Grand Finalists battled it out for the title in Timaru, including Patoka farmer Patrick Crawshaw, who represented the East Coast.
The finals for the FMG Junior Young Farmer and Agrikids NZ were also held.
Napier Boys High School students Cameron Brans and Quinn Redpath finished runners-up in the Junior Young Farmer competition.
In the Agrikids final, the OngaOnga Musterers of Katie Bibby, Oliver Merridew and Chloe Lawson competed against teams from around the country.
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Heavy rain saw river levels rise and some roads closed in Central Hawke’s Bay over the weekend.
An Orange Heavy Rain Warning was in place for the majority of the weekend and was lifted late yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday morning the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council listed Taylors Slab at OngaOnga, Hiranui Road, Wakarara Road, and Elsthorpe Road as being closed due to flooding.
A washout was also reported on Gwavas Road.
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council said it was monitoring river levels around the region and found no areas of concern.
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Central Hawke’s Bay and Tararua District are in for strong winds later this week.
The Metservice’s Severe Weather Outlook says a showery west to southwest flow will become established over the country during tomorrow and will strengthen over central and southern New Zealand for a time on Wednesday and Thursday.
During this time, forecasters say there is low confidence of severe west or southwest gales for CHB and Tararua District.
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A look at weekend rugby :
In the Manawatu competition, the Dannevirke Colts had a 22 to 7 win over Massey University.
In the Hawke’s Bay competition, Aotea went down 42-45 in their game against Pirates, with Porangahau beating Pirates 18-15 in Division Two.
In the Colts, Onga-Tiko beat Old Boys Marist 29-19.