Stopgap team of farmers succeed at Mingenew Midwest Expo

A rough and tumble group of farmers who made a last-minute decision to enter have taken out the first Young Farmers Competition at the McIntosh & Son Mingenew Midwest Expo in a display of speed, skill and humour.

Stuart Gannon, of Mullewa, Britt Cocking, of Yandanooka, Robert Mitchell, of Dudewa, and Will Waite, of Northampton, were wandering around the grounds when they were approached by challenge co-ordinator Billi Marshall, who encouraged them to take part.

The group of mates put in a team — calling it Heatwave, in honour of the classic farmer footwear — and faced off against two groups of UWA students and a team of Elders employees.

Each team had to complete challenges focused on fencing, stacking hay, first aid, calculating spray rates, a relay dressed in personal protective equipment, and building a set of sheep yards.

Heatwave was the fastest team to take part in the competition, with each team member taking home $100 for their efforts.

They have also qualified for the Perth Royal Show and if successful there, would go on to compete in the national Australian Young Farmers Challenge next year.

As well as the cash prize, the competitors also won custom-made T-shirts to wear when they compete at the Perth Royal Show.

Ms Cocking and Mr Gannon had different thoughts on whether the PPE relay — which required them to run about 300m in oversized costumes — was the most difficult task.

“The running was the hardest part,” Mr Gannon laughed.

“My strength was the fencing, I think I nailed that. We are just a group of mates and we all thought we would give the competition a crack.”

The unofficial “cheerleader” of the team, Ms Cocking said she “brought a bit of laughter and lifted all of the hay bales”.

“I got roped into it because they needed a female on the team,” she said. “Our weakness may have been working out the spray rates, but with a bit of determination we got there in the end.

“Our strong points were our speed and agility with the fences and the straining, and the sheep yards.”

It was the first time the challenge had been held at Expo, with the event attracting plenty of spectators.

Ms Marshall said the Young Farmers Challenge was popular with visitors but had a strong underlying message about the importance of teamwork.

“Competitors were judged by how fast they could compete, but there were penalties for safety breaches and quality of work,” she said.

“It was amusing to watch everyone, to say the least. But I was really blown away by the teamwork and the communication between all of the teams. Everyone worked really well together in all of the events and really involved everyone.”

Ms Marshall said she hoped the event would attract more competition next year.

“It was great to have the UWA students involved. They are pretty excited to go home and work on a few things and come back and do it again next year,” she said.

“We hit the nail on the head and now that people have seen it, it is fun and enjoyable and we hope it can take off next year.”