Jack Haddon - Pukekohe Young Grower

Jack took out second place in the Auckland region’s Young Grower of the Year competition in May, along with an additional accolade for best speech. The 21-year-old was one of seven contestants testing their fruit and vegetable growing knowledge, and the skills required to be successful growers. Each competitor had to complete modules including identifying plant pests and diseases, safe tractor driving, marketing, and giving a speech at the gala awards dinner.

Jack Haddon competing in the Pukekohe Young Grower of the Year. Photo credit: Yarn Creative

Jack is completing an apprenticeship in horticulture (outdoor crop production) through Primary ITO, while working at Balle Bros Growers in Pukekohe. As one of the younger competitors in the competition, he was “over the moon” to be named runner-up.

“I didn’t think I’d do that well, so I was really stoked with the result,” Jack says. “I’d heard about the competition at high school and a couple of my grower mates said it was a fun experience. It was a bit scary putting my name down for it, but what I have got out of it has made it really worthwhile. It’s been a huge confidence boost.”
Competition winner, Jamie Wells, 29, also works at Balle Bros Growers, making for a double workplace celebration.

The contestants had five weeks to prepare for the competition, with Jack referring to his Primary ITO learning resources to brush up on knowledge from earlier in his training.

“I really wanted to nail the speech as it was worth double points. We had the topic of ‘The importance of fresh produce in New Zealand culture and what we can do to embrace that’. I had put in a lot of practice and was feeling prepared, so it was really good to have that pay off.”

At school Jack had a keen interest in science, but was leaning towards a career as a diesel mechanic. He’d been working an after-school job at fruit and vegetable growers and distributers Leaderbrand Pukekohe to fund his love of cars. After gaining NCEA level 2 and leaving school, Jack was offered a full-time position and soon after began his Primary ITO training.

Pukekohe Young Grower of the Year runner up Jack Haddon. Photo credit: Yarn Creative

Jack is enjoying the wide range of topics that make up his apprenticeship. His level 4 training includes understanding the various rules and regulations that businesses have to comply with, looking at production goals, managing agrichemicals, and plant biology.

“Being able to work closely with my manager has been a massive help in gaining an understanding of how things work. My workplace is very supportive,” he says.
Primary ITO Training Adviser, Martina Balasova, has supported Jack throughout his training and is very proud of his achievement.

“He has a lot of knowledge and takes the horticulture sector really seriously. The awards event was a great night to celebrate his achievement and I look forward to watching him continue to grow.”

Having stepped out of his comfort zone to enter the competition, Jack offers words of encouragement to anyone thinking about a career in horticulture.

Jack plans to finish his apprenticeship and continue in his current job of operating tractors for agrichemical application and side dressing for a while yet.

“I’d like to keep learning about agronomy (the science behind growing). Ultimately, I’m keen to move into the operations and team management side of the business. It sounds pretty boring for a 21-year-old to like looking at Excel spreadsheets,” he laughs.

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