Young Grower of the Year 2025: Lydia Goodman wins Central Otago regional title
After moving to New Zealand, she shifted from cattle and crops to cherries, discovering a love for horticulture.
'I literally fell into it when I was a backpacker in Wānaka.
'My working visa was about to expire, it was post-Covid, and the industry was crying out for workers.'
Goodman snapped up the Government's offer of Supplementary Seasonal Employer (SSE) visas and started work in a cherry orchard in Tarras.
'I just loved it, the outdoors work and the passion and leadership in the industry.
'I have been here ever since.'
Now Goodman has five years of experience managing teams in orchard and packhouse operations and holds Level 3 and 4 Certificates in Fruit Production.
She entered the Young Grower competition to develop her technical skills, build connections with like-minded professionals, and challenge herself.
'It was a great experience completing seven modules across the day, along with two practical components, and a speech in the evening.
'The big one for me was pruning a tree in front of two big names in the field.'
Goodman, who manages a team of 12 RSE workers, as well as being a manager in the pack house, said she loved the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry.
'One of the best things is teaching the team how to do their job, and seeing the passion develop as they learn and understand things like the physiology of a tree.
'That really fuels me.'
Her ambition is to become a Central Otago cherry grower.
Runners up were Jared Loewen from Roxburgh, who is redeveloping his family's orchard, Stone House Gardens, to improve productivity and sustainability; and Mackenzie Maaka from Cromwell, who is studying Level 4 Horticultural Fruit Production at a polytechnic.
The Young Grower of the Year competition celebrates the success of young people in the industry and encourages others to consider a career in horticulture.
Local organisers host and run the regional competitions independently, with Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) hosting the final in a different part of the country each year.
Entry is open to both commercial fruit and vegetable growers from across the regions, up to the age of 30.
HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott said the competitions played an important role in highlighting the wide variety of career opportunities in the industry.
'The regional Young Grower competitions and the national Young Grower of the Year final could not happen without the commitment of so many industry professionals across the country who give up their time to help organise them,' Scott said.
'Thanks to their dedication, we can celebrate the skilled young people we have pursuing careers in the sector and raise awareness of those career opportunities to others.'
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