Bay of Plenty fruit grower Matthew Greenback is in the running to be Young Grower of the Year. He is in the final to be held at Auckland's Sky City in August and will compete against two fruit growers and one vegetable grower from the Nelson and Hawke's Bay regions.

Matthew Greenback has a one in three chance of being the 2010 Young Grower of the Year.

Aged 26, Matthew works for DMS Progrowers and will compete in a day-long event. It is designed to test the growers in a range of practical and business activities, such as driving a tractor around the Sky City street block, employment relations, shelter identification and identifying crop diseases.
The young growers will also give a three-minute speech to over 400 delegates at the Horticulture New Zealand annual conference dinner.
This is the second year that Hort NZ has run the Young Grower of the Year competition.
"Fostering our young people and creating opportunities for them, is an absolute necessity for the future success and growth of the horticulture industry," says Hort NZ career promotions manager Michelle de Jong.
The competition is supported by kiwifruit export and marketing giant Zespri and is a relationship its CEO, Lain Jager, says is important to it.
"We very pleased to be partnering with Horticulture New Zealand as the platinum sponsor for the 2010 Young Grower of the Year," says Lain.
"As the largest horticulture exporter in New Zealand, Zespri is very focused on investing in the growth and development of the industry's future talent.
"This competition is a wonderful way for young growers to take their horticultural careers to the next level by receiving mentoring from industry experts.
"It is also great to see these young people encouraged by healthy competition and recognition."