The first woman to win the FMG Young Farmer of the Year award is calling for more "young, innovative people" to join the farming industry.
Emma Poole spoke with Breakfast to celebrate her win over the weekend.
"The win is huge. Pretty excited to have come away from it. Obviously it's great for the rural sector and a great story, isn't it?"
Asked what her win speaks to, Poole said she'd had a lot of young women come up to her and say it's been great for them.
"They're confident going forward in their farming systems, so for me that's a huge win at the end of the day and it makes me pretty proud to be part of such an amazing sector."
Asked about the state of the primary sector, particularly for young people looking to get into it, and issues such as climate change, Poole said: "Challenges just really speak to opportunity, don't they?
"There's a huge raft of opportunity out there to make change and we need these beautiful, young innovative people to come and help us find solutions to challenges.
"There is a lot of positive stuff already happening in the rural sector, so many more hands would help us take this great sector forward, really."
Asked if she noticed innovation occurring, Poole said "absolutely".
"We're constantly evolving, and we have to be, to continue to be profitable and it's really important for farmers to embrace that change.
"As the new generations [come] through, that's absolutely what we've seen."
Poole said she feels incredibly passionate about the sector.
"We really just want to see the sector prosper and continue to provide jobs for New Zealanders, and food as well."
Poole believes the farming industry can strike a steady balance between prosperous farming and acknowledging greenhouse emissions, saying: "We need many hands to help us get this job done, but it is something that is totally achievable, and we are already making such good progress and working towards that.
"The future is brighter."
Pool took out Young Farmer of the Year on Saturday night, keeping the winning streak in the family. Her brother Tim Dangen won last year.
She described it as "just incredible" being able to share that moment with her family.
Aorangi representative Peter O'Connor placed second and Otago Southland finalist Hugh Jackson finished in third.
SHARE ME