The 43rd  Young Farmer of the Year is 25 year old Canterbury dairy farm manager Will Grayling, who  won  the National Bank Young Farmer Contest in Masterton at the weekend.

Will took out the first prize package valued at $85,000 in "The Ultimate Rural Challenge"  after three days of intense competition, beating Waikato Bay of Plenty's Tim van de Molen by just six points.

The contest began in February with 400 entries and eventually was whittled down to the top seven regional winners who competed in the Masterton final.

Will Grayling was representing the Aorangi region of the central South Island and  manages  a 1600 cow dairy farm in Ashburton.

To cap off a big year he is due to marry his fiancé Kim in December this year.

"Going up there I was reasonably confident of doing well but throughout the week my confidence started dropping, but I stuck at it and I must've done enough"

"But I guess just the prestige that comes with it; and then some of the opportunities that might open up from it.

"A lot of the people that you meet and interact with I suppose would be the biggest chance for opportunities. Some pretty big names were there."