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.
The first-time entrants clinched six of the nine merit awards - the DairyNZ People & Culture Award, the Federated Farmers Leadership Award, the Honda Farm Safety, the Health & Biosecurity Award, the Ecolab Environmental Sustainability Award, the Trelleborg Sustainable Pasture Award, and the ASB Business Performance Award – on their way to the big prize.
Fiona and Thomas also won the CowManager Experience Award, which is two years of free cow monitoring with a CowManager system before receiving the main prize. The couple won prizes worth $38,000.
They are equity partners and contract milkers for Marian and Jos van Loon on their 262ha, 1090-cow farm.
Accepting the Share Farmers of the Year trophy, Thomas Langford says they couldn’t have done it without the support of family, friends, the farm owners and staff.
Share Farmer category head judge, Steve Canton from DairyNZ says Thomas and Fiona Langford impressed the judges with their overall excellence across the board.
“Thomas and Fiona are very focused on the detail,” he says.
“They both come from corporate lives, and they have brought that experience into a lot of their systems and processes.”
Fiona holds a Masters in Dietetics and Thomas a Bachelor of Food Science (Hons). They both began work in the Fonterra Technical Graduate Programme, with Fiona moving to Melbourne to work in the Nutritional’s team and Thomas working with the Fonterra Nutrient Management team.
Both have a Masters in Dairy Science and Technology which they completed during their time in the Fonterra programme.
Fiona (34) has completed the Fonterra Governance Development course, trained as a DIY AB technician and both she and Thomas (33) have completed lameness training.
The judges noted that Fiona and Thomas are constantly looking to learn and have very strong awareness around the financial aspects of their business.
Fellow judge Robert Ervine from Rangiotu, says prior to meeting Fiona, Thomas had never been on a farm. “They came back to a family farm and their community and have really got involved.”
The Langfords are involved in several roles in the community, including Putaruru Athletics Club, Puketurua Hall Committee, Putaruru Rangers FC, South Waikato Environment Initiative, their local playcentre and Te Waotu SSG.
Judge Duncan Bayes noted Fiona and Thomas had good initiatives to drive positive staff culture, including supplying healthy and nutritious breakfast food and fruit, alongside an air fryer and microwave.
“They will step in quickly if a staff member is beginning to feel burnt out and are focused on culture and flexibility and creating a healthy work environment.”
The runners-up in the Share Farmer of the Year competition were Canterbury/North Otago farmers Richard and Nikita Grabham while West Coast/Top of the South couple Warric and Rachel Johnson came third.
The awards night at Mount Maunganui was attended by 620 people. The awards offered a total prize pool of $900,000.
The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors ASB, CowManager, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda, LIC, and Trelleborg, along with industry partners DairyNZ and MediaWorks.
