No regrets choosing cows over boardroom
Winning the 2025 New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year still hasn't sunk in for Thomas and Fiona Langford.
Andre was the 2020 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year and was also named the national winner, taking home the 2020 National Dairy Manager of the Year trophy.
Last month, Andre and Natalie again tasted success, this time taking out the region’s Share Farmer of the Year category.
Andre believes the awards programme have helped his self-development by pushing him outside his comfort zone and through making connections within the industry.
The couple are in a 20% equity partnership with Bruce and Gill Cameron over two properties at Otamarakau and Otakiri, totalling 267ha and 760 cows. They won $11,745 in prizes and three merit awards.
Andre and Natalie chose farming as their career as the mix of working with outside with animals and machinery was appealing. “We love being outdoors and physically active, it’s a great lifestyle for a young family.”
“We see technology and innovation in the industry growing in the future,” they say. “We already use a lot on-farm but will continue to grow in this area as we are reaching our full potential and it helps with environmental sustainability.”
The couple would like to see a more consistent milk price with less fluctuation, to help with future budgeting.
The couple cite farming during Covid as one of their biggest challenges. “We had to implement systems to continue farming and keep our staff safe.”
Significant weather events have also given Andre and Natalie challenges to overcome, which they have done by simplifying their farm system to ensure they can ride out any future storms.
“We also changed our system to OAD which has significantly improved our reproduction results.”
Andre (35) and Natalie (33) cite diversification, size of business and a solid infrastructure with shared machinery and resources as strengths of their farming business.
“We are able to share staff and skill sets across our two properties, and business diversity in kiwifruit and quarrying also spreads our business and financial risk.
“We have a herd on one farm which is awesome and a feed pad on the other farm,” they explain. “We also have a great pool of machinery which we share between platforms and we’re able to do jobs such as fertiliser application meaning we don’t need to rely on contractors.”
Future farming goals include debt increasing their equity shareholding and improve their herd figures to have an efficient OAD herd.
Runners-up inthe Bay of Plenty Share Farmer of the Year category were Renee and Benjamin Howard. Renee was the 2019 Manawatū Dairy Manager of the Year.
The couple are in a 9% equity partnership with John and Leanne Howard their 89ha Whakatane farm, milking 233 cows. They won $6,575 in prizes and three merit awards.
Renee and Ben credit the awards programme with helping them gain insights into their business and say the feedback from judges has allowed them to align their goals to ensure they are on the right path to where they want to be.
The couple see themselves at the forefront of the change into sustainable practices that truly focus on the health of the animal and the land.
“We are already incorporating sustainability practices on-farm and focus more on our animals and land over profit.”
The couple cite their family as a strength of their business. “We all work well together as a team, and we have flexibility in some of our jobs.”
“We have a longstanding business with relatively low debt levels and a focus on future growth, which means there has been a fair amount of capital investment, with room to expand.”
Alex and Shaun Boyce placed third in the Bay of Plenty Share Farmer category and won $3,125 in prizes and two merit awards. The 29-year-olds are contract milking on David and Lesley Jensen’s 250ha Omanawa property milking 700 cows.
Making Connections
The winner of the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year category is Thomas Lundman, who won $8,150 and three merit awards is also no stranger to the awards.
Lundman was the 2022 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year and 2022 National Dairy Trainee Runner-up.
The 27-year-old is farm manager on Michael and Linda Mexted’s 135ha Whakatane farm, milking 530 cows.
"I have found that networking with people all over the country and making connections for advice has been super beneficial,” explains Thomas.
“Winning categories has opened doors for me that I never would have imagined and has given me the confidence that I’m good enough to take the next step.”
Building Confidence
Alana Fitzpatrick is the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year and won $6,120 in prizes and three merit awards.
She was runner-up in the same category in 2024.
“Through the awards programme I’ve begun some very valuable networking and built more confidence in myself and my abilities as a farm assistant.”
The 22-year-old works on David and Lesley Jensen’s 240ha, 700-cow property at Tauranga.
Alana embraces the new technology that is available in the industry and enjoys discovering how it can benefit on-farm systems.
She holds a strong passion for the dairy industry and has completed NZ Certificate in Agriculture Level 3 in Farming Systems, Vehicles, Machinery and Infrastructure and Dairy Farming, and is currently studying towards Dairy Farming Level 4.
