Ditch the gumboots and break out the jandals! October sees competitors take a break from busy spring farming activities to converge on the Hawkes Bay Show for the first fencing competition of the season.

Hawkes Bay A & P Show is one of the largest in the country. Regional Competitions have been held there over the years but this was strengthened when in 2013 the 150th Hawkes Bay A & P Show provided the ideal venue for NZFC to hold the NZ National Fencing Championships.

The past two years these popular competition grounds have run a very strong regional competition, organised by top competitive fencers Paul Van Beers and Shane Bouskill, both who live in Central Hawkes Bay. The ground conditions for this competition are excellent for the competitors and the A & P Show great for competitors’ families to keep entertained.

Hawkes Bay is a fun event, has good contour, super spectator viewing from the main grandstand or the embankment, and a friendly “bringing town and country together” feel, as is the shows motto. Keen to move with the times, organisers have a few ideas up their sleeves to run alongside the theme of the show becoming a Royal Show for the next three years.

The King Country Fencing Competition has been running for the past 10 years.

Held in the middle of February at the Taumarunui A & P show it is always a well supported doubles competition with the best digging in the country, and is a good place to start or have a go at competitive fencing.

We encourage young fencers to come along and compete in a laid back friendly atmosphere, and we will always find you a partner if needed.

Held mid-week, the Waverley A&P Show has been running for over 100 years.

The organisers behind the show are extremely passionate and it is a real community event. The fencing competition has been running here since 1986 when it started out as a Young Farmers fencing competition. Such was its popularity, a fencing committee was put together to plan future competitions.

They have seen the evolvement of fencing techniques over this time, and subsequently have changed their specs to show this. Some years saw post and batten fences of 2 wire, or 9 wire, deer netting was demonstrated in the late 90’s, and it has now shown a shift towards electric fences.

Due to area limits the competition is restricted to twelve lines. The competition is a doubles fence and has been a great training ground for new fencers looking at competing at the NZ Fieldays. Hard, clean ground conditions make for a good competition.

This Lower North Island competition is held in Fielding, during the Central Districts Field Days. The weather is normally favourable, and being such a popular show, a big crowd is always present to cheer the lads on.

A great opportunity to see the pairs use their two man borers, it is quite a skill, makes a lot of noise, and there is always a chance someone is going to get thrown off- very entertaining! The winning pair take home the Gallagher Shield.

It is the last North Island competition before the National Champs at Mystery Creek in June, so although many pairs use it as a last practice before the ‘big one’ , it is also well attended by new competitors, due to the central location of the event and the great prizes up for grabs.

The last reportedly national style fencing competition held in the South Island was in the 1980’s and with NZFC being a national entity it was decided that in 2015 they would hold a fencing competition in the South Island. Organised by Debbie White on behalf of NZFC the South Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD) were hugely supportive of this initiative and made a large prime site available at their new field days site in Kirwee as part of their Field Days. Eight South Island Teams fronted up and demonstrated professionalism and skill to the Judges Team, with the winners receiving a prize package to attend the NZ National Fencing Championships at Fieldays.

The plan is for a annual South Island fencing competition, currently discussions are taking place to hold a competition in 2016 in Southland. As resources develop we hope to have more regional competitions through the year, meantime NZFC are looking at initiatives to help South Island competitors’ join into the North Island regional competitions

The Farmlands sponsored Doubles Power Fencing Competition is held at the Gisborne A & P Show in October.

The Eastland Building & Farm Supplies sponsored fencing competition at the Wairoa A&P Show has been a huge success. Shane Bouskil and Paul Van beers along with Hugh Morrison, the area Strainrite rep are the judges and they are only too happy to pass on their expertise to the competitors who are mostly local.

The competition is designed to encourage fencers to participate regardless of skill level, which enables all to learn from the “Best” and take the new skills into the field every day.

On the day it’s great to see the young fencers competing alongside the “ Old hands”.