Cloak of Knowledge

item details

NameCloak of Knowledge

ProductionBallantynes; circa 1980; New Zealand

Classificationcloaks, robes

Materialscloth, ribbon, velvet, rope

DimensionsOverall: 410mm (width), 1345mm (length)

Registration NumberGH018575

Credit lineGift of New Zealand Young Farmers, 2021

Overview

The Young Farmer of the Year contest has been running since 1969, and at every Grand Final the winner is draped in the ‘Cloak of Knowledge’. This particular cloak, made by Ballantynes, was used in the 1980s and early 1990s, and features the insignia of the competition’s principal sponsor, Skellerup Industries.

The Young Farmer of the Year contest is one of the premier events in New Zealand’s rural calendar and the flagship event for New Zealand’s Young Farmers. The competition is hotly contested across the country with the winners awarded significant prizes.

The idea for the Young Farmer of the Year contest came from James (Jim) Collins, marketing manager for Skellerup Industries. In 1969 he approached the NZ Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs with a concept for a radio quiz show, and the first national contest was held in Auckland in August of that year. From small beginnings, the contest grew, the degree of public interest grew and the first televised broadcast took place in 1981.

The Cloak of Knowledge was part of Skellerup’s marketing; as a former competitor recalled, Jim wanted to ‘upscale [the contest] as much as possible’. Jim also placed great emphasis on education because as a young man, he had had tuberculosis of the spine and saw education as a way of overcoming the adversity of his illness. Jim wanted to show that farming ‘wasn’t all just shearing sheep and milking cows but also the science behind it, hence the Cloak of Knowledge having an academic feel’ (Jim Collins (junior) quoted in Taylor 2019, 20).

For at least one former competitor the idea of awarding an academic gown at a Young Farmers’ competition took a bit of getting used to and the balance of academic and practical elements within the competition has been a source of debate throughout its history. The competition now involves a diverse range of technical, theoretic and practical challenges, but the presentation of the Cloak of Knowledge is still an important part of the Young Farmer of the Year ceremony.

References

NZ Young Farmers. n.d. FMG Young Farmer Of The Year. https://www.youngfarmers.co.nz/contest/fmg-young-farmer-of-the-year-/
Taylor, Kate. 2019. 50 Years Young: A History of the Young Farmer of the Year. Auckland: Massey University Press.