Southland Couple Crowned 2026 NZ Share Farmers of the Year at Dairy Industry Awards

Meanwhile, Canterbury/North Otago's Lauren McConnachie took home the New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year award and Mark Ready from West Coast/Top of the South was announced as the New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year.

The winners received prizes from a pool worth over $1 million.

Scott and Stacey Mackereth Named Share Farmers of the Year

Scott and Stacey Mackereth from Southland/Otago took home the top award of the Share Farmer of the Year, winning $28,000 in prizes along with three merit awards; the Trelleborg Sustainable Pasture Award, the DairyNZ People & Culture Award and the Federated Farmers Leadership Award.

The couple contract milk for Fortuna Group at Edendale, milking 1,400 cows on 464ha.

Robert Ervine, head judge and dairy farmer, says Scott and Stacey make a dynamic team.

“Their skills complement each other. Scott is very data driven and wears multiple hats, overseeing multiple operations and managing 13 staff who are all driven to perform every day, and Stacey is very grounding – she’s the glue.”

The judges noted they have created a supportive pipeline and make sure there are pathways for people to progress within the business.

The judges were impressed by Scott’s journey to bounce back after COVID disrupted his business ventures in the United States and he returned to rebuild from scratch in New Zealand by going farming.

“They’ve learnt from their prior experience and Scott is really passionate about sharing and learning from failure.

“They really prove that when you get knocked down you get up and go harder.”

Glenn and Georgie van Heuven from Waikato were named runner-up in the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year taking home over $15,000 in prizes along with winning the use of a Kioti HX 130-140hp tractor for a whole year, thanks to new national sponsor Power Farming.

Glenn, 37, and Georgie, 36, are 50/50 sharemilking 405 cows on 103ha for Sid and Dellas Anderton at Matamata.

Glenn and Georgie also won the ASB Business Performance Award.

Karl and Jess Wood from Manawatū placed third in the National Share Farmer of the Year.

Karl, 31, and Jess, 33, are 50/50 sharemilking 230 cows on 85ha for John Gardner in Palmerston North.

Karl and Jess won over $9,000 in prizes along with two merit awards; the LIC Animal Wellbeing, Recording & Productivity Award and the Novonesis Excellence Interview & Communication Award.

The LIC award includes a GeneMark Genomics prize for Karl and Jess to DNA test of all the dams and replacement animals in their herd.

Lauren McConnachie Wins 2026 Dairy Manager of the Year

Lauren McConnachie from Canterbury/North Otago was named the 2026 Dairy Manager of the Year.

The 35-year-old is Rob and Jenine Screen’s farm manager for Theland Farm Group at Purata, milking 2170 cows on 563ha.

McConnachie won over $15,000 in prizes along with taking home the Fonterra Dairy Management Award and the Ecolab Environmental Sustainability Award.

The judges said Lauren had extremely strong theoretical knowledge, was very organised and brought a structured approach to her planning and farm management.

“Lauren scored consistently across the board. She’s operating at scale, managing multiple people and she’s able to convert the complex into simple steps for her team.”

McConnachie has identified areas to work on and she is actively upskilling in personal development – leadership is a good example of that.

“She’s really aware of areas she wants to grow and how to help her team grow.”

Lauren McConnachie

Runner-up in the Dairy Manager of the Year is Taranaki’s Miriam Lauridsen.

The 29-year-old is pasture, forage and herd manager for Liam O’Sullivan at New Plymouth, milking 370 cows on 137ha.

Miriam won over $8,000 in prizes along with taking home three merit awards, including the Craigmore Farming & Safer Farms Health & Safety Award, DeLaval Sustainable Pasture Award and the Personal Planning & Financial Management Award.

Waikato’s Annie Gill placed third in the Dairy Manager of the Year, taking home $5,000 and pocketing the DairyNZ People & Leadership Award.

The 24-year-old is farm manager for Doug and Lorraine Courtman on their 56ha farm at Ōtorohanga milking 144 cows.

Bay of Plenty’s Reno Moses won the CowManager Livestock Management Award and Adrian Waugh from Manawatū won the LIC Interview Award.

Mark Ready Named 2026 Dairy Trainee of the Year

Mark Ready from the West Coast/Top of the South has won the title of 2026 Dairy Trainee of the Year along with over $10,000 in prizes.

The 23-year-old is farm manager for Michael Shearer on the Inch Family’s 130ha farm at Maruia milking 250 cows.

Previously entering the Dairy Industry Awards had been a catalyst for Mark to set himself goals and the judges were highly impressed with Ready’s planning and progress.

He has managed to save and buy his first line of cows which will enter the herd this year and has set himself a timeline to achieve herd ownership.

“We absolutely believe he will achieve that. Mark set himself a plan and he’s implementing it and we look forward to his progress going forward.

“He’s surrounded himself with good employers and has made strong relationships – he’s not going to be easily knocked down.”

Ready also won the Ecolab Personal Growth & Development Award.

Mark Ready

Sam O'Neill from Canterbury/North Otago was named runner up for the award, winning $6,000 along with the Federated Farmers Farming Knowledge Award and The Country Communication & Industry Involvement Award. 

O'Neill, age 23, is herd manager for Trevor Manson, milking 850 cows on 231ha and has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, with First Class Honours from Lincoln University

Conor Attrill-Mundt from the Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa placed third in the Dairy Trainee of the Year and went home with $3,000.

Attrill-Mundt is 2IC for Greg and Gail Mitchell at Patoka, milking 845 cows on 341ha.

Alvaro Luzardo and Ximena Puig win ASB Alumni of the Year Award

Alvaro Luzardo and Ximena Puig from Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa won the 2026 ASB Alumni of the Year award.

The couple are sharemilking 465 cows for Geoff Arends and Ester Romp in Eketāhuna.

Originally from Uruguay, the judges noted Alvaro and Ximena arrived in New Zealand in 2015 with a backpack and minimal English skills and are an exceptional example of what can be achieved in the dairy industry.

“Their story can be repeated by any Kiwi – this is the land of opportunity. They haven’t been blinkered by geography or perceived barriers and have been open to opportunities anywhere in New Zealand.”

“They’ve managed to build a network of people and grab gold nuggets from everyone. They want to inspire people and their ethos is to ‘Make It Happen’ and they have certainly demonstrated that.”

This award is a collaboration between ASB and NZDIA to specifically encourage and reward NZDIA Alumni who have made significant contributions to the programme and the industry.

The ASB Alumni of the Year Award is open to NZDIA Alumni who have been entrants in the past seven years and are no longer eligible to enter the Dairy Manager of the Year or Share Farmer of the Year categories.

Judges 'Blown Away' by Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award Finalists

Judges say they were impressed by the six finalists in this year's Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award competition, adding that they were an example to everyone of what can be achieved in the dairy industry.

“All of the finalists are first-generation farmers with no family farm backing and they are all on the verge of being able to buy their own dairy farm.”

The 2026 Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award winners are Johno & Tania Burrows, and Jonathon & Stacey Hoets, both from Canterbury/North Otago, and Marc & Nia Jones from Waikato.

The winners were able to show how they had built their equity from zero, how close they were to a farm purchase and how winning the award would help them in their next step.

The judges said it was an extremely difficult decision to split the finalists and encouraged them to give it another crack next year.

The Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award (FFA) is a collaboration between ASB, Fonterra and the NZDIA Trust, which aims to remove barriers to farm ownership by offering to help the best in the industry successfully transition into farm ownership, ensuring good succession to ownership and the future of the dairy industry.

Each winner receives up to $1 million of ASB Business Term Lending fixed at 1% per annum for three years, along with a Fonterra launch package that includes $20,000 of Farm Source account credit to drive productivity and sustainability, mentoring, and additional support to help them successfully transition into ownership.

Tony Dodunski Wins Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award

Tony Dodunski from Canterbury/North Otago won the Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award.

Beaumaris Dairies is located in the environmentally sensitive Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora catchment, and the judges cited Tony’s outstanding leadership in delivering responsible dairying outcomes on farm, while also making a significant and sustained contribution to the wider New Zealand dairy industry.

Tony Dodunski

“Tony has demonstrated that high environmental performance can be achieved through deliberate system design, evidence-based decision-making, and long-term commitment.

"His work exemplifies responsible dairying in action: delivering verified environmental outcomes, building capable and motivated people, and strengthening the long-term sustainability of the dairy sector.”

Winners and Placegetters

2026 Share Farmer of the Year

Winner: Scott and Stacey Mackereth

Runner-Up: Glenn and Georgie van Heuven

Third Place: Karl and Jess Wood

2026 Dairy Manager of the Year

Winner: Lauren McConnachie

Runner-Up: Miriam Lauridsen

Third Place: Annie Gill

2026 Dairy Trainee of the Year

Winner: Mark Ready

Runner-Up: Sam O'Neill

Third Place: Conor Attrill-Mundt

2026 Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award

Tony Dodunski from Canterbury/North Otago

2026 ASB Alumni of the Year Award

Alvaro Luzardo and Ximena Puig

2026 Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award

Johno and Tania Burrows

Jonathan and Stacey Hoets

Marc and Nia Jones

2026 Share Farmer of the Year Merit Awards

DairyNZ People & Culture Award - Scott and Stacey Mackereth

Ecolab Total Farm Hygiene & Innovation Award - Olivia Sutton and Craig Dobbe

Federated Farmers Leadership Award - Scott and Stacey Mackereth

Honda Farm Safety, Health & Biosecurity Award - Olivia Sutton and Craig Dobbe

LIC Animal Wellbeing, Recording and Productivity Award - Karl and Jess Wood

Power Farming Environmental Sustainability Award - Olivia Sutton and Craig Dobbe

Trelleborg Sustainable Pasture Award - Scott and Stacey Mackereth

ASB Business Performance Award - Glenn and Georgie van Heuven

Novonesis Excellence Interview & Communication Award - Karl and Jess Wood

CowManager Experience Award - Glenn and Georgie van Heuven

2026 Dairy Manager of the Year Merit Awards

DairyNZ People & Leadership Award - Annie Gill

CowManager Livestock Management Award - Reno Moses

Fonterra Dairy Management Award - Lauren McConnachie

LIC Interview Award - Adrian Waugh

Craigmore Farming & Safer Farms Health & Safety Award - Miriam Lauridsen

Ecolab Environmental Sustainability Award - Lauren McConnachie  

DeLaval Sustainable Pasture Award - Miriam Lauridsen

BlackmanSpargo Rural Law Personal Planning & Financial Management Award - Miriam Lauridsen

2026 Dairy Trainee of the Year Merit Awards

Best Video Award – Taylor Alty

DairyNZ Practical Skills Award – Jack Foster

The Country Communication & Industry Involvement Award - Sam O’Neill

Federated Farmers Farming Knowledge Award – Sam O’Neill

Ecolab Personal Growth & Development Award - Mark Ready