November 19, 2025
Mid Canterbury Young Farmers clubs are experiencing a bounce-back as a new generation steps up in droves.
There are three clubs in the area – Pendarves, Foothills and Hinds – and two have found their footing over the past five years.
“[Pendarves’] numbers are skyrocketing,” former member Penny Stilgoe said.
“I think [during] the last numbers check, outside of the university clubs, I think Pendarves was the biggest non-university club.”
As generational farmers have vacated executive roles, international members have stepped up, making up the bulk of the club’s members, she said.
“Pendarves are at around 50 members now; at one stage they were around 18 people three years ago.
“We always joked that there were about two English to every Kiwi.”
Having bolstered Pendarves’ numbers, Stilgoe has jumped ships to join the Foothills club as treasurer.
“Foothills is quite a different story; definitely struggling more for numbers.
“That’s traditionally been a shepherding, high country group, so they’ve had a lot of members age out.”
A few decades back, Young Farmer groups had local members with connections to family farms businesses. Those are harder to come by today.
“Now we’ve got a lot of people coming through that are employees or international people, so can’t necessarily turn back on their personal businesses to donate.
Hinds club event manager Abigail Hortin agrees that connections can be hard to come by these days.
“I’m quite fortunate to work for a well-known person in the industry,” she said.
“If I wasn’t in the job that I’m in, it [would be] way harder.”
The Hinds club is on the up and actually made a profit from their
most recent event, the Spring Ball.
“I’d say we consistently have around 30 active members.
“We have heaps of seasonal workers, because we’re mostly dairy farmers.”
They run a wealth of events, with Valentine’s speed dating and the Aorangi group’s gumboot games coming up in 2026.
The biggest event on the Aorangi region’s calendar is the Young Farmer Regional Final, which will be in Woodbury in January.
Stilgoa, who is also the Aorangi Region convenor for the final, encourages anyone living rurally to connect with Young Farmer groups.
“You don’t have to be from a farming background. That's a big thing for us.”
Mid Canterbury Young Farmers clubs are experiencing a bounce-back as a new generation steps up in droves.
There are three clubs in the area – Pendarves, Foothills and Hinds – and two have found their footing over the past five years.
“[Pendarves’] numbers are skyrocketing,” former member Penny Stilgoe said.
“I think [during] the last numbers check, outside of the university clubs, I think Pendarves was the biggest non-university club.”
As generational farmers have vacated executive roles, international members have stepped up, making up the bulk of the club’s members, she said.
“Pendarves are at around 50 members now; at one stage they were around 18 people three years ago.
“We always joked that there were about two English to every Kiwi.”
Having bolstered Pendarves’ numbers, Stilgoe has jumped ships to join the Foothills club as treasurer.
“Foothills is quite a different story; definitely struggling more for numbers.
“That’s traditionally been a shepherding, high country group, so they’ve had a lot of members age out.”
A few decades back, Young Farmer groups had local members with connections to family farms businesses. Those are harder to come by today.
“Now we’ve got a lot of people coming through that are employees or international people, so can’t necessarily turn back on their personal businesses to donate.
Hinds club event manager Abigail Hortin agrees that connections can be hard to come by these days.
“I’m quite fortunate to work for a well-known person in the industry,” she said.
“If I wasn’t in the job that I’m in, it [would be] way harder.”
The Hinds club is on the up and actually made a profit from their
most recent event, the Spring Ball.
“I’d say we consistently have around 30 active members.
“We have heaps of seasonal workers, because we’re mostly dairy farmers.”
They run a wealth of events, with Valentine’s speed dating and the Aorangi group’s gumboot games coming up in 2026.
The biggest event on the Aorangi region’s calendar is the Young Farmer Regional Final, which will be in Woodbury in January.
Stilgoa, who is also the Aorangi Region convenor for the final, encourages anyone living rurally to connect with Young Farmer groups.
“You don’t have to be from a farming background. That's a big thing for us.”
