The FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest will trial a new structure in the Northern and Waikato/Bay of Plenty Regions.
These will be two-day events, with day one resembling the traditional district contest and day two aligning more closely with a regional final.
The district contests, organised by NZ Young Farmers clubs, are usually one-day events.
The change was initiated to take the pressure off members who helped run the events, national chairwoman Jessie Waite said.
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The contest relied heavily on its membership base as volunteers, she told The Country's Jamie Mackay.
"They put so many hours into creating ... a district, regional, or grand final - and so we're looking to see whether we can pilot a new structure to streamline it a little bit and take a bit more pressure off, by running a district final on day one and then hitting it with a regional final on day two.
"Northern and WaiBOP are going to be our pilot for this upcoming season and then we'll just see what comes of that and if it's something that we can move forward with."
Young Farmer of the Year kicks off on October 15, with the first of the 11 district contests. The top contestants from each district contest then progress through to one of seven regional finals that will be held between February and April 2023.
From there, the highest scoring contestant wins the honour of representing their region at the Grand Final to be held in Timaru in July. Contestants had to demonstrate the broad skillset of a modern farmer and sometimes had to "upskill in some areas" which added to the challenge, Waite said.
The contest was structured in a way that made winning accessible for all entrants and Waite said she was looking forward to hopefully seeing the first female contestant win the title. "We have to be careful to make sure that we are bringing all elements of the food and fibre sector to the contest because we are looking for the best young farmer of the year."
