John Caradus who is chief technology officer for Grasslanz Technology and someone who has spent a lifetime in plant breeding says the best starting point to reduce GHG emissions in New Zealand is at the pasture level and looking at what the animals eat.

Much research is already underway in this area at Grasslanz, which is now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute, in collaboration with other organisations both in NZ and offshore.

Alternative Pasture Species Under Investigation

He says the two predominant pasture species grown on NZ farms are perennial ryegrass and white clover, but notes that there are other species that could be used such as tall, meadow fescue, cocksfoot and a number of minor legumes.

"But one of the problems with some of the other pasture legumes is that they don't compete well in our grazed swards. So, if we could find a way of getting a legume such as Lotus corniculatus, also known as birds-foot trefoil, into our grazed pastures that would make a difference," he says.

Caradus says birdsfoot trefoil can produce condensed tannin of the appropriate type and amount in its leaves.

He adds that if we could integrate these types of species into our perennial ryegrass sward it would aid in reducing methane production and probably nitrous oxide too.

Mixed Species Pastures Gaining Research Attention

The idea of mixed species is one that is being closely researched and trialled at present.

For example, Massey University and others are looking at what difference plantain, chicory and white clover can have on reducing GHG emissions.

There is also work going on in the field of genetics to produce animals with low methane emitting traits.

Calls for Science Funding Aligned with Farmer Needs

While new research is taking place, much of this can be traced back to work done by agricultural scientists in the 1970s.

Caradus believes this was due to the funding regime at the time when scientists had more control over their research than now, whereby the funder - by default the Government - sets very tight limits on what research can be done.

However, under the new funding system that is about to get underway, there is hope that science funding will be better aligned with farmers' needs.

"However, the reality is that today, in terms of pasture development and management, we are still relying heavily on the work done by the scientists in the 1970s," says Caradus.

Managing Grass

While scientists can develop new grass species that reduce methane and nitrous emissions in animals, success at a farm level depends on how the pasture is managed, says John Caradus.

He says high stocking rates - particularly on dairy farms - is not conducive to pasture persistence and therefore the gains available in grasses cannot be realised.

"Pasture persistance is a real issue. This is because of the impact of droughts and insect pests. Even with fungal endophytes in ryegrass which protect the plant from insects. It's that combination plus overgrazing that can drive down the persistance of our ryegrass pastures," he says.

Caradus says it's a matter of getting farmers to back off a little on grazing pressure.

Developing new methane reducing legumes is not easy he says because our major species of ryegrass and tall fescue grass don't have the secondary metabolites that will reduce GHG emissions. One option for this he says might be to use gene editing or genetic modification.

For Caradus and the teams of scientists working to develop new grass species it is encouraging that in general New Zealand farmers are willing to try new opportunities and can be regarded as early adopters.

He says this became evident when a new endophyte strain of ryegrass - AR1 which protects the plant from Argentine stem level and reduces ryegrass staggers - was introduced in the early 2000s.

“Our dairy farmers are some of the best in the world and these awards are a chance for us to highlight the innovation of our sector and show other farmers what’s possible on farm,” says Campbell.

“It was also great to see such a strong focus on people and team culture.”

Share Farmers of the Year Recognised for Leadership and Team Culture

The 2026 Share Farmers of the Year Award went to Scott and Stacey Mackereth who are contract milking for Fortuna Group at Edendale.

The judges were impressed with their support for staff including implementing the Te Whare Tapa Whā holistic Māori health model.

The couple also won DairyNZ People & Culture Award, the Trelleborg Sustainable Pasture Award, and Federated Farmers Leadership Award.

Dairy Manager and Dairy Trainee Winners Announced

Dairy Manager of the Year was Lauren McConnachie, farm manager for Theland Farm Group at Purata, milking 2170 cows on 563ha.

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

The DairyNZ People & Leadership Award in the Dairy Manager category was awarded to Annie Gill.

The Dairy Trainee of the Year was Mark Ready from Maruia who was praised by the judges for his planning and progress. The farm manager 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.

The DairyNZ Practical Skills Award in the Trainee category was won by Jack Foster.

Sustainability and Industry Leadership Recognised

Tony Dodunski won the Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award for his work in the Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora catchment while Alvaro Luzardo and Ximena Puig from Eketāhuna took out the ASB Alumni of the Year Award.

The Fonterra and ASB First Farm Award was won by Johno and Tania Burrows, Jonathon and Stacey Hoets – both from Canterbury/North Otago – and Marc and Nia Jones from Waikato.

Former DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel was also celebrated with a special award for outstanding service to the dairy industry.

Dairy Industry Awards Trust chair Paulette Johns said van der Poel was recognised for his commitment to the dairy sector, including his long-standing governance roles with Fonterra and DairyNZ.

“Jim is recognised as a distinguished leader across the dairy sector, having made a sustained and influential contribution over more than four decades of farming, governance and national industry leadership,” Johns says.

The inaugural Rural Industry Leaders fundraisers, the brainchild of Taranaki's Mike Green and Marton's Sue Foley and ably supported by Roger Beaumont and Peter Parussini, both from Auckland, was reportedly a roaring success, raising over $300,000 for the benefit of the Rural Support Trust.

"We were blown away by the response last year with a remarkable turn-out of leading rural companies and business leaders coming together for the benefit of Rural Support Trust's important work," says Mike Green.

Fundraiser Supports Rural Communities and Wellbeing

"Thanks to the outstanding efforts of the rural industry the Rural Support Trust was able to bolster its great work helping country communities in their times of need."

This year a total of 32 notable rural sector companies have taken the opportunity to come onboard with another 30 providing sponsorship and online and live auction contributions for the June 10 event.

Debate Event Returns with High-Profile Rural Figures

A highlight of last year's dinner event was a battle of wits with a light-hearted debate bringing the house down with clever banter and verbal jousting delighting the packed venue of 540 guests.

"The debate was a huge hit so we're excited to have Hon Shane Jones, Hon Kieran McAnulty, Suze Redmayne MP, Te Radar and Jessica Mutch Mckay joining us on 10 June, all under the watchful eye of adjudicator Dr Jacqueline Rowarth," says Green.

Online and Live Auctions to Feature Major Rural Items

"We're also thrilled to be going live with an online auction which runs through to Sunday 14 June. Here you'll find up to 60 valuable items generously donated by a wide range of sponsors including water troughs, grass seed, fence posts, a motorbike, generator and cattle stop - to name but a few."

This will be complemented by a live auction at the evening event with outstanding experiences from Blue Duck Station, VIP tickets to the NZ Golf Open, Afimilk collars and stunning sculptures from up-and-coming talents Jamie Thomas and Blake Harnett.

The original team who enabled last year's dinner, debate and auction event has cemented itself through the formation of the Rural Industry Leaders entity with its focus on supporting wellness and growing opportunities.

More information can be found at www.ruralindustryleaders.nz 

During a discussion at Auckland Federated Farmers Conference recently, Environmental consultant, Richard Gardner, who was formerly a policy analyst with the lobby group, said he was recently watching via the internet members of the Environment Select Committee of Parliament hearing submissions on the Natural Environment and Planning Act.

“I just had a feeling that AI had been used by some Members of Parliament to ask some of their questions,” he said.

“That made me worried as AI has its limitations. Does the federation have a strategy to deal with its use?”

Federated Farmers Acknowledges Need for AI Strategy

Chief executive Mike Siermans, who attended the meeting, said the lobby group didn’t at present.

“We probably need one.”

Mark Hooper, the federation’s board member with responsibility for the Resource Management Act (RMA), part of which will be replaced by the Natural Environment and Planning Act, who was also at the meeting said AI was useful to some extent in summarising submissions but not in formulating policy.

RMA Reform Remains a Key Concern

While the federation was very supportive of the Government’s intent in reforming the RMA, it felt the draft policy produced didn’t align with that.

“We hope we can get some issues resolved, but it’s a big ask,” he said.

“We’re holding our breath and waiting to see.”

Farmers Concerned About Environmental Limits

The major concern centred around the setting of environmental limits on farms as the natural inclination was to try to make improvements to current levels

“But that can become a hard limit, and farmers could be worse off than they are at present,” he said.

Questions Raised About Future Role of AI in Policy

After the meeting, where Gardner was made a life member of Auckland Federated Farmers, he said around 10,000 submissions had been made on The Natural Environment and Planning Act.

“But when I watched on the internet I wondered what was happening at the select committee,” he said.

“I had the distinct feeling that in some cases the submissions had been summarized and AI had been used when it came to what questions should be asked.”

“If that’s the case what else could be done with AI? Is there any point in having politicians and making submissions?

“It does worry me. Things should be done in a different way. The federation needs to know what’s happening and have a policy to address that.”

'AI Is Here'

Hooper says the use of AI in advocacy is already here.

He says this technology is a useful tool that’s being used successfully by a lot of organisations to increase productivity and efficiency in the workplace.

“There are some very useful applications when it comes to analysing complex data, brainstorming, research, or automating simple and mundane tasks,” he told Dairy News.

“As a sector, we can’t shy away from these kinds of technological advances – it’s no different to when the computer or the internet first arrived. This is just the next wave.”

Hooper believes in time AI will be like a computer or internet is today – used by everyone in some way.

However, he wants AI to be viewed as a ‘tool’, not a replacement for human input or thought.

“The technology is very impressive, but it also has its limitations.

“We do still need that human input, critical analysis and thought, but I think the two can work together well in a complementary way.

“It’s by no means a replacement for our expert policy advisor, lawyers and communicators – but it can help them do their jobs faster or more efficiently.”

Earlier this month, AWDT announced it would be phasing out over the course of the next 12 months.

AWDT was founded 16 years ago by Lindy Nelson with the aim of understanding the needs or rural women, removing barriers to leadership, and creating pathways for their growth.

Since then, the organisation has supported thousands of women through its Escalator, Understanding Your Farming Business, Wāhine o te Whenua, It’s All About You, and Next Level programmes.

AWDT Helped Shape Leadership Opportunities for Women

Jones says that in the past 16 years there has been significant change for women in the sector.

“When AWDT began, there were fewer visible pathways, networks, and leadership opportunities for women in agriculture,” she says.

“Today, we see more women leading farming businesses, stepping into governance roles, influencing industry conversations, and supporting each other through strong networks and communities.”

She says AWDT has been proud to play a role in that shift alongside others in the sector.

Declining Enrolments and Economic Pressure Impact Sustainability

The announcement of the winddown comes after a period of declining enrolments over the past 12 to 18 months.

Jones says those declining enrolments have been accompanied by increasing economic pressures on rural communities which have impacted the ability for women and farming businesses to commit to the trust’s programmes.

“After careful consideration, we reached the view that continuing in the current form was no longer sustainable,” Jones told Dairy News.

She says the decision is reflective of the current environment, not the historical value or impact of AWDT’s work.

Programmes to Continue During Transition Period

As the organisation winds down its work, it will continue to provide its currently scheduled and committed programmes into 2027.

Jones says the wind down of AWDT will be phased over the next 12 months.

“As part of that process, we will explore whether there is an appropriate home for AWDT programmes within existing organisations,” she says.

“We are not in a rush to make those decisions. Any process will be fair, transparent and considered.”

Leadership Support Still Needed for Women in Agriculture

However, despite the current economic climate, Jones says there is still a place for the leadership programmes for women in agriculture.

“The need for leadership development, confidence building, connection, and capability support for women in agriculture remains important,” she says.

“What has changed is the environment people are operating in. Economic pressure and competing priorities are making it harder for many women to step away from businesses, farms, and families to participate in programmes in the same way they may have previously.”

She says that there are other organisations, networks and industry groups available to support women across the rural sector.

“While AWDT has had its own unique approach and community, we hope women will continue to access learning, support and connection through existing organisations, and that this may include some form of AWDT programmes finding appropriate homes within that wider ecosystem.”

The Southland Water and Land Plan (Regional Plan) currently requires farmers to prepare and submit a farm plan by 27 May 2026 before improvements to the national freshwater farm plan system are finalised.

However, last week Cabinet decided that Southland farmers and growers will now have until the end of November 2027 to submit their farm plan and benefit from the updated system.

The extension makes sure Southland farmers remain compliant with the regulations.

Federated Farmers Welcomes Deadline Extension

Southland Federated Farmers president Chris Dillon told Dairy News that the government announcement is "a big relief" for the regions 3400 farmers.

"The extra time will mean national and regional farm planning systems are well aligned to avoid duplication and unnecessary costs to farmers," Dillon says.

Government Promises Simpler National Farm Plan System

Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard says the announcement gives farmers the clarity they deserve.

"Southland farmers were staring down a May 2026 deadline to submit farm plans under the current regional system," says Hoggard.

"That would have meant wasting time and money on a whole lot of complex paperwork that simply won't be needed under our updated national rules. That is the definition of pointless bureaucracy."

Hoggard says farmers' efforts wouldn't go to waste.

"We are bringing in a new, improved national system. This extension ensures farmers won't spend time and money complying with old rules when better ones are on the way."

New Rules Aim to Reduce Red Tape

The Government is introducing a slimmed-down system that strips back the most frustrating parts, like overly bureaucratic land blocking and mapping, according to Hoggard.

He says the new legislation will deliver clear expectations.

"We are clarifying exactly what farming activities need a certified plan, cutting out the fluff.

"Farmers should be out on the land producing world-class food and fibre, not stuck at the kitchen table trying to decipher red tape. We're getting the rules sorted and getting Wellington out of the way."

Environment Southland Says Farm Plans Remain Important

Environment Southland chair Jeremy McPhail says the extension gives farmers and growers more time to finalise strong farm plans and make good use of the support available as the updated national settings are finalised.

"Farm plans remain an important part of improving freshwater outcomes, and this extension gives farmers extra time to continue developing plans that are practical, well-informed and tailored to their property and catchment.

"Farm plans are here to stay, and most farm operations in Southland will still need one."

McPhail says Environment Southland had supported the need for farm plans for a long time as a way for farmers to demonstrate environmental responsibility and increase the uptake of mitigations.

"These are one of the key tools in Southland for improving water quality across our catchments."

He said farm plans remain an important tool for identifying practical actions on-farm, reducing environmental risk, and driving year-on-year environmental improvements.

The strategy sets out how New Zealand will create a system that promotes mental health and wellbeing for all, and provides mental health and addiction support and services that meet people's needs.

Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) welcomes the strategy's direction, and has used its submission to bring the lived reality of rural communities to the Ministry of Health's attention.

"Anyone who has lived rurally knows that getting help is rarely simple," says Bronwyn Main, Health Policy Action Advisory Group convenor.

“You might be hours from the nearest service, juggling the farm, the kids, the animals and still trying to find the courage to ask for help in a small community,” she says.

The submission draws on the experiences of RWNZ members to show how distance, cost, stigma, and workforce shortages combine to push rural people to crisis point before they can access support.

Welcoming his appointment, Environmental Defence Society (EDS) chief executive Gary Taylor says Chrisp understands the importance of the conservation estate, and the natural environment more generally, to New Zealand's economic welfare.

"He will be well placed to argue for adequate resourcing for the department which manages one-third of our country.

"There are clearly big challenges ahead for DoC with yesterday's announcement of further public service cuts."

Chrisp also has direct experience of conservation challenges on the ground through his work as chair of Predator Free Wellington.

"EDS looks forward to working constructively with the new director-general when he takes office at the end of June. We share common ground in wanting positive conservation outcomes for Aotearoa," says Taylor.

And his outstanding leadership in delivering responsible dairying outcomes on the farm earned him the Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award at the recent NZ Dairy Industry Awards.

Beaumaris Dairies has been owned by the Dodunski Family since 2017.

Farming Within a Sensitive Catchment

Tony Dodunski, who manages the farm, told Dairy News that when the family first looked at buying the property, they understood the environmental constraints it has.

The farm has heavy soils and low-lying areas where overland flow of nutrients, sediments and phosphorus is the biggest environmental risk.

Dodunski says they identified that early and built a concrete feed pad to stand cows off and capture effluent during high rainfall events.

"We've also implemented a number of other initiatives including sediment traps, riparian planting, a low application rate effluent system, grid and all paddock soil testing with targeted fertilisr application, breeding smaller cows, focusing heavily on pasture utilisation, and installing solar to help power the cowshed."

Dodunski says he has come to acknowledge the farm for what it is.

"It's not an A-class Canterbury dairy farm, so rather than pushing the system too hard, we're comfortable farming at a slightly lower intensity to create something that is environmentally, financially and operationally sustainable long term."

Profitability Key to Long-Term Sustainability

Dodunski's message to dairy farmers is to focus on building profitable and resilient farm systems first, because profitability gives a farmer the ability to invest in sustainability long term.

"I also think sustainability is broader than just environmental outcomes. It's about people, energy, financial resilience, community, and the long-term sustainability of the wider dairy industry as well.

"The good thing about New Zealand dairy farming is that many of the practices that improve environmental outcomes also improve operational performance and resilience.

"Sustainability doesn't have to be about big statements, often it's the accumulation of lots of practical decisions and continuous improvement over time."

A Team Effort

Dodunski says the Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award means heaps to him, his family, and the people who have been part of the journey.

"My name might be on the award, but there are so many people who have contributed to it over the years, so it's just as much a reflection of their contribution as it is mine. I'm very proud and grateful."

New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards say Dodunski 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."

He claims the listed company faces a deeper issues of "control, confidenced and complexity".

His comments come as Synlait starts the search for its fourth chief executive in five years.

Synlait Continues Search for Stability

Richard Wyeth resigned as CEO this month after just one year in the role and will stay with the company until June 30 to support an orderly transition and handover.

Synlait has been struggling to improve its financial performance since Covid impacted infant formula sales, particularly in China.

Leon Clements resigned as CEO in April 2021 after three years in the role.

In October 2024, Grant Watson resigned after nearly three years in the role.

Wyeth, a former CEO at Miraka, was also head of Westland Milk until he stepped down early last year.

Shareholder and Customer Pressures Create Difficult Environment

Synlait's ownership has evolved over the years, and two relationships now define Synlait's future: a2 Milk as a major customer and shareholder, and Bright Dairy as the controlling shareholder.

Lees agrees and adds that Wyeth's resignation shows that Synlait's problem is bigger than who sits in the CEO chair.

"Synlait sits between two powerful forces: a2 Milk, its major customer and shareholder, and Bright Dairy, its controlling shareholder and financial backer.

"That makes the CEO role unusually hard. The company must restore manufacturing reliability, rebuild quality confidence, meet a2's infant formula supply needs, protect Bright's investment, reassure farmers and repair profitability - all at once."

Lees points out that for Bright Dairy, Synlait is more than a financial investment.

"It is a major overseas acquisition and a test of its ability to own and govern a profitable international business," he says.

"For a2, Synlait is about supply, quality and trust. The recent US recall of Synlait manufactured a2 Platinum infant formula is a reminder that, in infant formula, there is little room for error."

He says Wyeth may not have been the wrong leader, rather he may have been in an almost impossible role.

"Synlait's leadership churn is not just a CEO problem. It is a sign of a company trying to rebuild profitability while meeting the needs of a powerful customer and a controlling shareholder."

Synlait Appoints Interim Leadership

In a filing with NZX, Synlait thanked Wyeth for making a strong contribution to the business since his appointment.

He led Synlait "through a particularly challenging period with a clear focus on addressing key operational, quality and financial issues, rebuilding customer relationships, and positioning the company for its next phase".

Synlait director Leon Fung has been named acting chief executive.

The company says Fung is "ordinarily resident" in New Zealand and joined Synlait as a director in June 2024, serving as chair of its People, Environment and Governance Committee from November 2025.

It says Fung developed a strong understanding of the company's operations and challenges, which positions him well to lead the business forward.

Richard Wyeth, who was appointed to the role one year ago, has resigned, according to a NZX filing by the listed company.

Wyeth will remain with the company until June 30 to support an orderly transition and handover.

Synlait director Leon Fung has been named acting chief executive.

Struggling Since Covid-19

Synlait has been struggling to improve its financial performance since Covid impacted infant formula sales, particularly in China.

Leon Clements resigned as CEO in April 2021 after three years in the role. In October 2024, Grant Watson resigned after nearly three years in the role.

Wyeth, a former CEO at Miraka, was also head of Westland Milk until he stepped down early last year.

Both Westland and Synlait are controlled by Chinese dairy conglomerates.

Wyeth Made A 'Strong Contribution' to Synlait

Synlait says that since his appointment, Wyeth has made a strong contribution to the business, leading Synlait through a particularly challenging period with a clear focus on addressing key operational, quality and financial issues, rebuilding customer relationships, and positioning the company for its next phase.

“The board thanks Richard for his leadership, commitment, and contribution to the business and wishes him well for the future.”

Fung To Take Over

Synlait says Fung, an ordinarily resident in New Zealand, joined Synlait as a director in June 2024 and serving as chair of its People, Environment and Governance Committee from November 2025.

It says Fung has developed a strong understanding of the company’s operations and challenges, which positions him well to lead the business forward.

The tasting panel described the butter as "complex", "Rich, salty and decadent", and "Yellowy, buttery goodness".

Alex Turnbull, chief executive of Westland Milk Products which manufactured Westgold, says the results confirm one of Westland's best-kept secrets.

Grass-Fed West Coast Advantage

Turnbull says the secret to Westgold's taste and colour is that the cream used to make the butter is sourced from grass-fed cows raised on the West Coast.

"Given our location and the knowledge and skills of our butter team, we know we have a lot going for us, but this result still fills us with pride," he says.

The simplicity of mixing only grass-fed fresh cream and salt gives Westgold butter a distinctive texture, while Westgold’s distinctive gold colour is a result of the more than 97% grass-fed diet of its West Coast dairy cows cared for by partner farmers.

Traditional Churning Methods Deliver Premium Quality

A centuries-old churning method built into the butter plant Westland commissioned in 2022 at Hokitika on the West Coast is used to process cream into butter.

This is a slower processing method that results in a higher-quality product.

Perhaps the most important ingredient, however, is the time spent perfecting the craft of making butter.

Westland's butter team have spent an average of 20,000 hours (or 10 years) producing butter.

Dean Robinson, Westland's cream senior production manager, has been with the company for over 30 years.

“Our butter-team has more accumulated knowledge than any other team at Westland and, potentially, more knowledge than any other butter producers in the country,'' Robinson says.

"After making butter for so many years, everyone working in the factory has the eye for it and just knows when it is right. Our butter churners all have their own characteristics. Our staff have been able to use the instinct that comes from extensive experience.”

New employees are trained by those who have the most experience to make sure that everyone gets the benefit of the team’s knowledge.

This all drives the taste of Westgold Butter as more people around the world – and at home – are discovering. 

Sales of Westgold butter are booming and have grown around 40 per cent over the past four years in New Zealand.

Owning two farms, Ngakanui, adjacent to the main school campus, runs to 16ha and carries 60-65 Friesian cows, milked through a De Laval VMS (voluntary milking system).

Farm Manager Highlights Importance of Operational Standards

Farm Manager Finn MacDonald explains that the location - which is currently seeing a large-scale housing development on its nothern boundary of up to 1000 homes - means the farm must be seen to be doing things correctly.

"We ensure we operate under an industry best-practice regime at all times, meaning we keep things very neat and tidy and animals are in tip-top condition."

An output of 28,000kgMS/annum sees an average production of 450kgMS/cow and 1855kgMS/ha.

Winter feed takes the form of 50 tonnes of bought-in maize silage, complemented by 100 bales of grass baleage.

Manawanui Farm Supports Sheep, Beef, and Forestry Systems

The school's second farm, Manawanui, is located on the hillside to the west of the town, running to 81ha and operated as a beef and sheep unit, with the primary outputs being finished trade lambs and cattle, complemented by some small-scale forestry.

Summer cropping of 15ha chicory and 6ha of rape is used in Jan/Feb to supplement grass, with a return to grass after grazing.

Finn explains, "we typically finish up to 2000 trade lambs, alongside Hereford-cross cattle that head off to the works at around 550kg liveweight".

Agricultural Education Pathway Attracts Hundreds of Students

Interestingly, with a total recall of 1600 students, 600 choose to be involved in the agricultural and horticultural pathway during Year 9 and 10, then carrying on with a combined course through Years 11 to 13.

These courses focus on the place of NZ agriculture, livestock production, soil and plant science, plant propagation, primary production and sustainability.

Alternatively, students can apply to take part in the Primary Industries Programme in Year 11, then attend a one-day farm placement per week in Years 12 and 13. This course focuses on livestock handling, drenching and vaccination, fencing, safe operation of farm vehicles, dagging, crutching and shearing.

An extra-curricular programme allows students to sign up to agrisports, rural games, beekeeping, wool handling courses, crutching, dagging and shearing courses, interhouse shearing and wool handling, and Lamb and Calf Day.

Rural/Urban Mix

Head of Agriculture and Horticulture, Kain Nixon says that students on the agriculture and horticulture courses are typically from a 70:30 rural/urban background, moving through the years in a 50:50 male/female mix.

“By the time they reach Year 12 and 13, this switches to an 80:20 in favour of the girls.”

He goes on to explain that the aim of the courses is to give students a broad overview of an industry that is a key driver of the NZ economy and sow the seeds to agriculture as a subject to follow in higher education.

“We would love to offer an even greater overview, showing that an agricultural qualification is not just about working on farms, but the pathway to a multitude of support industries within the sector. But like many other establishments, unfortunately we don’t have a finite budget.”

With Agriculture evolving rapidly with new smart technologies arriving on an almost daily basis, farm manager MacDonald explains, “I typically have three students acting as my shadow on most days, so its important to expose them to day to day tech such as the VMS robot, our weighing and identification systems using EID tags, while also ensuring they take on basic skills like sheep shearing- which is also very popular, but not forgetting hygiene issues like crutching and dagging, which usually aren’t undertaken with so much enthusiasm.”

www.feildinghigh.school.nz

Researchers from DairyNZ, the Bioeconomy Science Institute (formerly AgResearch), and Lincoln University explored two decades worth of data and used multiple data sources to assess the impact of good farming practice implementation on nutrient loss reductions.

Good Farming Practices Linked to Lower Contaminant Losses

The results show a clear link between the widespread use of good farming practices and lower contaminant losses from land to water on New Zealand dairy farms.

DairyNZ senior scientist Dr Katrina Macintosh says farmers should be confident that the actions they are taking on their farm are having an impact, without affecting productivity.

"Over the past 20 years, dairy farmers have implemented a range of good farming practices, including better fertiliser use, effluent management, reduced soil cultivation and improved irrigation scheduling. Until recently, few studies assesssed its impact, and when improvements in water quality might be detected," she says.

"In recent years, we've been working with milk processors using the data they are collecting from their suppliers via their farm environmental plans to better understand environmental improvements.

"Working with Fonterra and Open Country Dairy, plus capturing information from DairyBase, we were able to analyse multiple anonymous datasets to determine the level of good farming practice implementation around the country and what that means for reducing nutrient losses and improving water quality."

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Losses Trend Lower

One of the studies looked at five dairy-dominated catchments ranging from 598 hectares to 2480 hectares between 2001 and 2020, a period where extension programmes began to be rolled out, and water quality and farm practices were being regularly monitored. The research found good farming practices reduced phosphorus, E. coli and sediment concentrations.

Another study looked at uptake of good management practices across a 10-year period between 2013-2022 and the influence they had on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses to water from dairy-farmed land.

The study found that N management, and improved irrigation and cultivation practice contributed to lower N loss trends, while P fertiliser and effluent storage methods were the most influential parameters for reducing P loss.

No Negative Impact on Milk Solid Production

Notably, the analysis found that while the adoption of good farming practices decreased N and P losses on farm, it did not impact negatively on milk solid production.

"Good farming practices are generally accessible and cost-effective for farmers to implement on farm to deliver improved water quality outcomes. Fresh water management is a long-term game and it's great to be able to show farmers the impact of their efforts on farm over the past 20 years or so," says Macintosh.

The research is building a strong evidence base showing how farming practices on New Zealand dairy farms have changed over time in pastoral catchments to deliver environmental outcomes.

Paul Bennett, the Bioeconomy Science Institute Maiangi Taio’s integrated bioenergy portfolio lead, says New Zealand has up to three million hectares of unproductive land, including a million hectares of growing scrub.

He says that land could be converted to short-rotation forestry, providing a larger long-term supply and support demand for coal, gas and marine fuel replacements.

“Early bioenergy deployment would generate a market for further biomass production,” Bennett told Dairy News.

“Woody biomass growth can therefore be achieved without displacing food or timber or pulp production,” he adds. “This can be part of the solution for NZ’s energy security.”

According to Bennett, New Zealand could access approximately seven million green tonnes of low-grade wood for bioenergy production, including the sustainable and accessible biomass from forest harvesting operations, and low-grade industrial logs currently exported.

“This is plenty of biomass to replace the coal burnt in New Zealand and to start on the journey of aviation and marine fuels from wood,” he says.

Bioenergy improves energy security by producing fuel locally, meaning New Zealand would be less reliant on global suppliers, Bennett says.

He says there are four main reasons why the Bioeconomy Institute has been investigating bioenergy options within New Zealan – climate change; energy security and resilience; market access; and local economic development.

Currently, Bennett says the Bioeconomy Science Institute is looking at practical steps the country can take to reduce its energy insecurity.

“We are scaling up locally produced bioenergy and biofuels using existing woody biomass resources and have been working with a range of stakeholders across a range of energy sectors such as aviation, marine, processing and power generation.

“The current global fuel crisis has highlighted why New Zealand needs these locally produced sustainable fuel options as part of the solution to its energy insecurity.”

At Fonterra's Clandeboye depot near Timaru, Tanker Operator Joe Emmanuel is part of a fleet of 70 tankers collecting around 2.6 billion litres of milk each day.

His day starts much like anyone else's.

Supporting a Deaf Tanker Operator

"I arrive at work and wait for the manager to give me the instructions of what I need to do that day. I'll read it through and then just get stuck in," he says.

But behind the routine is a team that's made simple, practical changes to support Emmanuel.

Driver Trainer Assessor, Brett Maddren, says he was unsure at first how training a deaf tanker operator would work.

"Because of the way we communicate, I thought it would be difficult. Then I went home and thought, 'how could I actually do this and make it work?'" says Maddren.

Visual Skills Became A Strength

When Emmanuel came in for his initial interview and driving assessment, Maddren says it was clear to see his strengths as a teacher.

"We teach a lot of drivers about scanning and looking, but Emmanuel already does that because he's very good visually, so that was a great attribute to have."

The next step was induction, which includes a lot of group chats, something Maddren didn't want Emmanuel to miss out on.

Emmanuel says one simple change made a huge difference.

"Brett wore a microphone that was connected to my phone so I could get a live transcript and didn't miss out on anything. That was fantastic. It was an immediate adjustment that meant I could be included," says Emmanuel.

New Zealand Relay Service Assisted Recruitment Process

Throughout his recruitment journey, Emmanuel had the support of New Zealand Relay, a free government-funded service enabling people with hearing and speech communication difficulties to use the phone.

Since joining the depot last August, Emmanuel says the team has built a supportive, deaf-aware environment.

"Everyone knows they shouldn't talk to me across the room. They need to face me, and they've gotten on board with that," he says.

"In the mornings, the team manager will face me and speak slowly so I can lip read."

Visual Systems Help Improve Safety and Communication

Emmanuel mainly communicates through text and has also developed visual ways of working on site.

"When I'm unloading a tanker, I will turn on a light to signal green to let people know the valve is open. That's a visual system that lets them know what's going on."

When new people come into the depot environment Emmanuel says it can be nerve-wracking to meet them.

"I wonder how I'm going to communicate and if it'll go smoothly. But really, I feel like I'm treated as an equal here. I'm the same as every other member of the team."

Workplace Inclusion Benefits the Entire Team

Maddren believes that inclusion benefits the whole team.

"If people feel left out, that's not good for morale. Inclusivity is important, regardless of what language you speak. We don't discriminate and everyone is treated the same."

That connection also shows up day-to-day.

"We get on well and like to have a laugh," says Maddren. "Especially across the room, because Emmanuel is very good at reading your face."

New Zealand Sign Language Week Builds Awareness

New Zealand Sign Language Week recognises New Zealand Sign Language as one of the country's three official languages, alongside English and Māori.

For Emmanuel, it's a choice to build awareness and connection.

"I'm so happy that I'm meeting people that know about New Zealand Sign Language, that want to learn it," says Emmanuel.

"It's a really week for us in the deaf community."

That's the advice from respected Waikato-based farm consultant, James Allen, AgFirst.

He says not only should they be doing some serious budgeting but also looking at ways they can be more efficient with fuel and fertiliser.

"With good prices there is a risk that people get a bit complacent, but I would be encouraging people to think about ways they can utilise their existing nutrient levels in their soils and to be really focused on and smart on using what they have got," he told Rural News.

Soil Testing Can Help Reduce Fertiliser Costs

Allen says one way of doing this is to increase the amount of soil testing on their farms and focus on individual paddocks rather than across big blocks.

He says understanding the precise fertility of the farm may take a bit more time, but it is probably money well spent.

"Keeping things simple and harvesting as much pasture as you can is important," he says.

Farmers Encouraged to Review Cropping Systems

In some areas of the central North Island it is noticeable that large areas of land have been planted in winter forage crops and Allen believes this is because some farms are recent dairy conversions and still need some development work.

He says cropping seems to work well in that region where there tends to be colder winters and getting a good yield from maize can be challenging at times.

"What this highlights is that there is a need for people to evaluate their farm systems going into the season ahead. What I mean by that is cropping can have an effective place in the farm system, but it does depend quite a bit on yield. And if you're not getting a good maize yield, maybe you are better to buy it in. And equally if you are not getting a good yield from the forage crop, don't grow it," he says.

Palm Kernel Prices Expected to Rise Further

Allen says the other issue in the mix is the cost of palm kernel.

He says now it's about $400 a tonne but believes it is more likely to go up in price rather than drop.

He also suspects that the cost of producing maize will rise as that crop relies on fuel and fertiliser.

He says a dairy farmer can grow quite a good maize crop quite effectively with a lower level of fertiliser than people generally apply on an efficient paddock.

"So, the key message is good budgeting and thinking more about how to get very efficient fertiliser use and nutrient management," he says.

The Government has given councils a three-month window to put forward proposals to simplify and strengthen local governmnet in their regions.

Local Government Structure Doesn't Work

Sandra Faulkner, Federated Farmers' local government spokesperson, says New Zealand's local government structure simply isn't working for farmers.

"It's contributing to rising costs, infrastructure pressure, and declining civic engagement.

"Ratepayers up and down the country have completely lost confidence in a system that doesn't recognise how our communities have evolved across the last 30 years," Faulkner says.

"We've long advocated for reform, so we're very pleased the Government has now asked councils to get on with it."

A Chance To Fast-Track Reform Proposals

The announcement offers councils a chance to fast-track their own reform proposals and bypass the Combined Territory Board model.

Federated Farmers encourages elected councillors to put aside parochialism and engage in open discussions on reform that will work.

"The clear message to councils from government is to seize the initiative and find more efficient structures that work better for ratepayers and communities," says Faulkner.

"If councils don't front-foot this, government will make the decisions for them."

Support for Strong Representation for Provincial Communities

Faulkner says Federated Farmers will only support reforms that lock in strong representation for provincial comunities.

"Our consistent view has been that metropolitan and provincial areas have very different needs and priorities.

"We took the initiative early this year by publishing a proposal for reform, promoting the case for unitary councils, which would combine the responsibilities of current regional and district councils.

"We'd like to see metropolitan unitary councils centred on cities of around 50,000-plus, and provincial unitary councils that merge the district councils."

That model could see the current 78 councils reduce to less than half that number.

“It’s just starting to land,” she told Dairy News the morning after her win at the Dairy Women’s Network 2026 Conference in Christchurch last week.

The fourteenth winner of the award, Timutimu was recognised for her leadership, deep connection to people and whenua, and her impact across the dairy sector and Māori agribusiness.

Leadership Across Dairy Farming and Māori Land Development

She currently leads a dual-enterprise model combining dairy farming and maize at Te Tawa Kaiti Lands Trust.

In 2025, she represented New Zealand as an expert speaker at the APEC Technical Cooperation Workshop in Bangkok, contributing to international discussions on women’s economic empowerment and sustainable agriculture.

She holds governance credentials from the Institute of Directors’ course, the Fonterra Governance Development Programme, LIC leadership programmes, and the MPI Governance Essentials programme.

She is also vice chair of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Award Recognises People-Focused Leadership

The general manager of Te Tawa Kaiti Lands Trust says the award represents an “opportunity to inspire others and to give them courage and confidence”.

Timutimu describes her leadership style as “values-led, and cohesive”.

“It’s about taking people along the journey,” she says.

In her career within the dairy industry, Timutimu says she’s learned a lot about the sector.

“I’ve learned about how to be resilient… I’ve learned how farmers have been challenged and how committed they are.

“I’ve learned how people can be so challenged and yet so giving,” she says.

Advice for Women Entering the Sector

Her advice for women seeking a career in dairying is simple.

“Come with a passion for the land and working with animals,” Timutimu says. “Two days are never the same.”

Judges Praise Leadership

Anne Douglas, group director of Fonterra Farm Source and a member of the judging panel, says she is thrilled to see Timutimu win the award.

“Her ability to bring together mātauranga Māori and modern farming practices is a powerful example of the leadership our sector needs,” Douglas says.

“I’ve also been impressed by her global perspective and how she applies insights from around the world to strengthen our rural communities. Her commitment to people, to land, and to the next generation of farmers is truly inspiring,” she adds.

Strong Connection to People and Whenua

Dairy Women’s Network trustee and lead judge Jenna Smith says Timutimu brings a deeply grounded perspective, with a strong connection between people, whenua and long-term outcomes.

“Her leadership is authentic and anchored in purpose,” Smith says.

“Hine leads by example, makes decisions clearly, and consistently demonstrates her ability to bring people along with her – whether she’s rolling up her sleeves planting out a stream bank or setting and implementing strategy,” she adds.

Scholarship Supports Future Leadership Development

As winner of the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year, Timutimu will receive a scholarship which covers the programme fee, travel and accommodation, mentoring and access to Dairy Women’s Network and Fonterra platforms to share research.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says it's an attack on the dairy sector which relies heavily on migrant workers.

Dairy Sector Relies on Migrant Workforce

2025 data shows between 1400 and 2000 migrant workers are approved for dairy-specific jobs in New Zealand each year to fill employment gaps.

Stanford told Dairy News that for a dairy farmer employing a new migrant worker on a five-year visa, an extra $11,000 will need to be paid upfront.

NZ dairy farmers compete for the migrant workforce with Australia and Canada and Stanford says at the end of the day farmers will need to fork out the money to secure workers.

Concerns Over Cost Shifting to Employers

"If you are a dairy farm worker, a herd manager for example [on a] five-year visa, that's an $11,000 upfront cost that a migrant will have to pay on top of their visa fee, on top of their health check screening, and all those other costs," Stanford says.

Stanford said migrants would probably not be able to pay this upfront cost, which would then fall to the employer.

"I see this new policy as an attack on the rural sector."

Farmers Warn of Worsening Labour Shortages

Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean agrees.

"We think it's poor policy, with negligible benefits and a whole lot of downsides," Dean told Dairy News.

"It's an idea floated by one coalition partner that we hope is not adopted - at the very least, not applied to the agricultural sector."

Dean points our that the Federated Farmers Mid-Season Farm Confidence Survey in January this year showed that farmers' ability to recruit skilled and motivated staff worsened compared to six months earlier (with 23% finding it harder and only 3% easier, compared to findings in the June 2025 survey).

Dairy farmers experienced the sharpest deterioration on this issue.

Dean adds that the dairy sector continues to rely on a flow of migrant staffing and production and this policy just throws up more cost and hurdles.

What Does ACT Want to Introduce?

ACT plans to introduce a $6 per day infrastructure surcharge on temporary work visas, on top of existing charges.

ACT leader David Seymour says this ensures migrants contribute to New Zealand's infrastructure from day one, before they start paying tax.

"The fee is expected to raise around $80 million a year, while remaining more affordable than comparable visas in Australia and the United Kingdom," he says.

Industry Calls for Consultation

Dean says Federated Farmers hasn't reached out to ACT on the policy yet.

"We'll shortly be releasing our 'asks' of political parties as they work on their policies for the November election, and we'll no doubt be engaging with ACT and every other political group."

This was revealed by Dr Richard Spelman, the chief scientist at LIC, speaking at the recent Agricultural Climate Change conference in Wellington - an event which attracted some of the world's leading scientists and policymakers in the field of climate change.

How the Dairy Methane Study Was Conducted

The programme began five years ago when LIC along with CRV and the Ag Emissions Centre set about identifying low methane bulls.

The theory was that this trait could be passed on to their daughters, which could prove to be a major breakthrough.

The aim of the trial, says Spelman, was to produce a cow with low amounts of gross methane emissions relative to the kilograms of dry matter it ate.

Two groups of sires were selected - those with low methane emission and that those with high emissions - and they were mated to generate about 400 heifers.

"Of their progeny about 200 females were found to be low methane emitting and the other half high emitters. The final test was to see if these low emission traits remained when the cows were lactating," he says.

Lactation Stage Reveals Key Limitation

Spelman says when they initially measured these animals at 10-12 months of age, the traits of low emissions clearly showed up and that was very encouraging.

But the final test was to see if these traits still existed when the cows started to lactate.

He says the test was very expensive - about $4,000-5,000 per animal - and complex to measure.

All the cows were housed in a barn because that is the only way to accurately measure feed intake relative to the emissions produced, he says.

The cows were fed silage and some grain. At the same time, the cows' methane emissions were measured in a machine where the animals were attracted to visit up to six times per day through feed being placed within it.

LIC chief scientist Richard Spelman.

"To measure feed intake, you need to have animals inside and for us that is a key thing because if they were on pasture, you could find animals that produced less methane but that may be because they didn't eat much," he says.

For the science team this was the crunch test because if the hypothesis was proved, it would speed up the process of producing low methane emitting cows which would have a significant benefit to farmers and the country as a whole.

Sadly, Spelman says, this wasn't to be.

"From our work it doesn't appear that the trait we measured in young bulls is the same trait when you measure it in a lactating cow.

"The traits in the cows is obviously quite physiologically different to those in the bulls," he says.

What Now?

While all those involved in this research programme are disappointed, they are committed to doing further research to find out why the low emission trait in a sire is not expressed in a lactating cow.

Dr Richard Spelman says it's widely accepted that about 20% of the emissions in a lactating cow are influenced by genetics.

He hopes the work can continue but points out that the present trial was relatively small, although statistically valid.

He says in future the goal will be to measure thousands more animals in a bid to develop DNA-based tools to identify the low emitting cows and sires.

He says they need to build up a large data set so that at some point they can confidently go to farmers and sell the sires that will produce low emitting daughters.

"What all this proves is that genetics is a long game and now maybe a longer game than we thought," says Spelman.

Following changes in 2024, the Ministry of Education firmed up on its rules, stating that to qualify for rural transport, students must attend the nearest school, but at the same time, live more than 3.2 kilometres, in the case of primary or intermediate pupils, and 4.8km for secondary, from their school.

Proposed Policy Would Allow Children to Use Empty Seats

Hoggard last week announced an election commitment to fix the inefficiencies of the current system, that will include an "Open Seat Rule" so no bus passes a waiting child while there's an empty seat available.

The proposed policy would mean that any child living along an existing school bus route can use it, if there is space available, regardless of which school they attend.

"The bus is already running; the seat is already paid for: so let's let the child get on," he told Dairy News.

"We should be using what we've got, not putting more pressure on families, who have paid taxes, for a bus that leaves their children stranded."

ACT Says Policy Would Improve Efficiency Without Major Extra Costs

The policy will not require any additional spending in most cases, as it will serve to make better use of existing capacity.

Where demand on a route increases, additional buses can be provided.

The current 'nearest school' rule is out of step with how rural communities live and work, says Hoggard.

"Families choose schools for all sorts of reasons, where siblings go, where there's better support, or what fits around work and farm life.

"Of course, in some sectors, particularly dairying, staff will move around to differing locations, meaning that the numbers of children can also change. If a prospective employee learns there is a problem with getting children to school, it might have a negative impact on them following through with a job application," says Hoggard.

Hoggard says there should be more flexibility around how the rural bus routes are approached, requiring a need for flexibility as circumstances change.

Money should be used to get the children to school, not be tied up in Wellington bureaucracy.

Manawatū Examples Highlight Transport Frustrations

"We've seen a huge range of examples near home here in the Manawatū, where parents in places like Opiki, Tokomaru and Ashhurst are being told that unless their child is going to a particular college in Palmerston North, then they are not allowed to get on the bus. Previously, all the kids, regardless of what college they were attending, would all get on the bus to Palmy, then get themselves to the final location," says Hoggard.

"The 2024 revision seems to have removed that flexibility."

"Taking a closer look doesn't need another review or working group - just a bit of common sense. Kids get to school, families save money, and farmers can get on with the job. We want diesel in tractors, not wasted on school runs that shouldn't be needed. This is a straightforward change that will take pressure off rural communities at a time when every dollar counts," Hoggard says.

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

Operating collaboratively under the Yili Oceania group of companies - including Westland Milk Products, Oceania Dairy, Canary, Pure Nutrition, and EasiYo - the business has generated a consolidated revenue of $1.58 billion in 2025.

It's a year-on-year increase of 14% compared to consolidated revenue of $`1.38 billion in 2024, and the highest in the history of the group.

Combined pre-tax profit reached $58.44 million, a 319% increase from the previous year, marking the New Zealand group of companies’ all-time high.

Combined pre-tax profit of 2023 and 2024 was $31.77 million and $13.95 million, respectively.

Collaboration Between Dairy Businesses Drives Growth

Last year, the group focused on a major business transformation, including increased collaboration between Westland Milk Products and Oceania Dairy, whick helped accelerate earnings growth desipite record high milk prices.

The FGMP for the 24/25 season was $10.16/kgMS, a 30% increase over the 23/24 season of $7.83/kgMS.

Zhiqiang Li, executive director of Yili Oceania, says a focus on structural upgrading and capability enhancement in 2025 delivered solid, high-quality growth.

"Overall, the business has now evolved from a scale-driven model to one focused on quality, efficiency and value creation,'' Li says.

Focus Shifts Toward Value-Added Dairy Products

Li says that by accelerating the shift toward value-added products, the company achieved record-high revenue and profit, while also making tangible process in capacity expansion, operational efficiency and global channel development.

"At the same time, we proactively strengthened our leadership team with key appointments, focusing on the capability of our team to operate at international operational standards, laying the foundation for sustainable long-term growth," he says.

"These results show that the New Zealand businesses are in sound shape and have been managed responsibly to generate strong returns which will support the global competitiveness of the New Zealand dairy industry.''

Investment in Processing Capacity and Premium Products

Li says the professional dedication and strong collaboration of people employed in the business, and strong partnerships with New Zealand dairy farmers and other partners, had contributed to the healthy and efficient development of the business.

"Over the past decade of investment in New Zealand, we have worked hard to build fair, transparent and sustainable relationships, ensuring that value is shared equitably across the entire supply chain,'' he says.

"We will continue to deepen these partnerships, strengthen the foundations of trust, and work with our partners to enhance the competitiveness of the industry in our region.''

New Leadership Team Supports Long-Term Strategy

The latest appointment for the group is Alex Turnbull to the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Yili Oceania group of companies in February this year.

Turnbull says Yili's support in governance, resources and strategic alignment has produced an outstanding set of results.

"At the forefront of our thinking is our role and responsibility as the economic cornerstone of the West Coast,'' Turnbull says.

"Results like this allow us to keep investing in our business as well as our people, while remaining competitive with a strong milk price.”

Turnbull says strong pricing in the market, optimising the product mix strategy of high value products, and agile foreign exchange management contributed to revenue and profits.

"The business is now well-placed to build further on the value-over-volume strategy,” Turnbull says.

"Going forward we will continue to focus on production planning and talent management.”

The announcement comes days before Richard Allen, currently president global ingredients, steps into the Fonterra chief executive role on 1st May 2026.

Elisa Giusti, Fonterra's vice president global ingredients growth based in Chicago, will assume the role of president global ingredients growth.

Fonterra’s Ingredients risk, pricing and optimisation, innovation, science and technology, and R&D functions will shift reporting line to Giusti.

Meanwhile, Fonterra's president Middle East, Africa, Europe & SEA, Gaby Amade, will assume the role of president global ingredients sales and operations.

Fonterra’s Ingredients teams in Greater China, Americas, Oceania and North Asia will shift reporting line to Amade.

Both Giusti and Amade will join Fonterra's management team.

The co-operative says the interim changes will remain in place until the permanent structure is confirmed.

The game will be sold only through Farm Source stores for a limited time.

The launch is scheduled to sit alongside the DWN Conference 2026 and Moving Day, giving farmers and supporters a chance to pick up a board as they head into the new season.

DWN chief executive Jules Benton says the idea grew out of a simple question: how do you tell the dairy story in a way the whole family can enjoy.

“Most of us have sat around the table for hours playing Monopoly at some point,” she says. “We wanted to take that familiar game and make it our own, so the board looks and feels like dairy life, the good days, the hard calls, and everything in between.”

The Farming Year On The Board

Instead of buying and trading city streets, players travel through well‑known dairy regions and key parts of the farming calendar, including calving, mating, milk pick‑up, community days and more.

The cards draw on real‑life situations farmers face, and the board features a custom token and artwork that reflects the four seasons on the farm.

“It’s recognisable straight away as Monopoly, but the detail is very much home‑grown,” says Benton. “People will see places and scenarios they know and hopefully have a few laughs along the way.”

Backing People in Dairy

Proceeds from DWN Monopoly will help the Network continue its work supporting people in the sector through workshops, events, and resources that build confidence, skills, and connection.

“Every board that goes out the door helps us put more support in place for farming businesses and their teams,” Benton says. “It’s a fun way to give back to the sector and invest in its future at the same time.”

Built With Industry Support

A wide range of agribusinesses have come on board to be part of the game through properties, cards, tokens and other elements.

 “We’ve had strong support from across the sector, which really reflects how connected our industry is,” says Benton. “Seeing those brands on the board reinforces the network that sits behind farmers every day.”

How To Get On Board

An official launch event with Farm Source will be held in Te Awamutu on 1 May 2026, alongside Farm Source’s Pie Day Friday celebrations.

Attendees will also have a chance to have a go at playing on a life-size Monopoly board. DWN will also be celebrating the launch at Farm Source stores in Reporoa, Kaponga, Dannevirke, Culverden and Winton, with the game available to purchase at all Farm Source stores nationwide.

The two-year pilot is delivered in partnership by Fonterra and Growing Future Farmers and pairs students with experienced Fonterra farmer trainers. The programme combines four days a week of practical on-farm experience with one day of study towards an NZQA-accredited qualification to develop skilled and work-ready graduates.

The first intake includes students aged 16 to 18 from Auckland, Waihi, Palmerston North, Morrinsville and Mount Maunganui, many of whom do not come from farming backgrounds but are committed to building long-term careers in dairy.

Janaeya Cooper, 18, from Mount Maunganui is one of the first students to begin the programme and is excited to get the experience she needs for her future.

“I want to step straight into a farm assistant role, and eventually I want to be a farm owner selling my milk to Fonterra. I just really enjoy being outdoors. Being stuck in an office was not for me. Even if I’m drenched in rain, it just makes me very happy.”

Another student, Troy Lyness, 18, from Auckland, says the programme is helping him get a foot in the door of an industry he wants to build a career in.

“There’s lots of options, like going to university, but I’ve decided farming’s where I want to be,” he says. “Not coming from a farming background, the programme will really help with getting connections and opportunities to progress through the dairy industry and hopefully to ownership.”

The students have completed their orientation, taking part in practical activities including a tanker demonstration, milk quality training, vehicle training including Quad Bikes (ATVs), side by sides and two wheelers and meeting the farmer trainers who will host and mentor them. They also visited a Farm Source store to collect essential gear ahead of starting on-farm.

Group director of Farm Source Anne Douglas says the pilot recognises the critical role farmers play in developing the next generation.

“The programme is farmer-led and co-designed by Fonterra to meet the real needs of dairy farms,” Douglas says. “Farmer trainers will provide practical skills and mentorship that will help build confidence and capability over time. A huge thanks goes out to our farmer trainers and their families who are supporting these students.”

Chief executive of Growing Future Farmers Wendy Paul says the programme builds on the success Growing Future Farmers has already seen in the sheep, beef and deer sectors.

“Together, we’re creating clear, supported pathways that help these young people see what’s possible in this industry and step confidently into it. This partnership reflects a shared belief in the power of great training and mentorship, and we’re grateful to the students and farmer trainers who are leading the way by being the first to embrace this programme for the future of dairy.”

Seven farmer trainers will host students and play a key mentoring role, helping them build technical skills, resilience and a strong support network. Students complete the programme with a recognised qualification and real-world farming experience, while farmers help shape future talent for the sector.

The pilot is starting small and is designed to evolve, supporting succession, workforce development and the long-term strength of the dairy industry.

The award recognises contributions to the dairy sector at a grassroots level.

DWN chief executive Jules Benton says both finalists embody the essence of leadership within rural communities.

"Our volunteer Regional Leaders play a vital role in DWN's success," Benton says.

"They're the face of DWN in their communities, connecting with and supporting others, and ensuring DWN remains deeply grounded in the realities of rural life," she adds.

Benton says both Gordon and Lobb have shown "incredible enthusiasm and dedication" to supporting dairy women in their regions.

"Their ability to connect, lead with purpose, and create meaningful impact is exactly what this award celebrates," she says.

"We are incredibly proud to celebrate their efforts and the positive impact they make every day."

The recipient will receive a scholarship for a leadership development programme of their choice.

The Regional Leader of the Year will be announced on May 5 at a gala dinner during the DWN Conference 2026, which is themed "Success through Inspiration".

Registrations for the conference and gala dinner are open now. To register head to https://www.dwn.co.nz/dwn-conference-2026 

"Land and water decisions have always mattered, but the environment farmers are operating in today is fundamentally different," says Johnston.

"Water, environmental performance, market expectations and farm succession are all converging at once. Farmers and growers are managing compliance, but they're also making long-term business decisions in a changing world."

Johnston says while the pace of change can feel challenging, it also creates opportunities for those willing to plan ahead.

"There's a strong appetite across the sector for practical pathways forward. People want clarity, not more complexity. They want advice that helps them understand what's coming and make confident decisions now, rather than reacting later."

She says water management is increasingly central to that conversation.

"Water security underpins productive farming systems, resilient communities and future market access. If it's done well, environmental planning isn't a constraint. Rather, it can strengthen businesses and protect options for the next generation."

Irricon's rebrand marks an important milestone for the Timaru-based environmental consultancy, which has grown alongside the changing needs of rural New Zealand.

Founded in 2007 by Keri Johnston, Gary Rae and Paul Sullivan, Irricon was built on the simple principle that environmental advice should be practical, grounded and genuinely useful on farm. Haidee McCabe joined soon after, helping shape the collaborative and trusted team the business is known for today.

As freshwater reform, nutrient management, biodiversity and cultural values have become more closely connected Irricon's work expanded beyond irrigation and consenting into broader land and water strategy.

Growing Capability

Irricon managing director Haidee McCabe says the refreshed brand recognises Irricon's evolution from a specialist irrigation advisory business into a consultancy working across the wider land and water systems that support rural production.

"When Irricon started, much of the work centred on irrigation performance and consenting processes that were far less complex than they are now," says McCabe.

"Today, our clients are making decisions that connect water, land use, environmental performance, infrastructure and long-term business strategy."

With a 15-strong team living in rural communities and working across Canterbury, Otago and nationally, Irricon now operates across interconnected land, water and energy systems. The team supports farming enterprises alongside irrigation schemes, catchment initiatives, and the infrastructure and environmental planning that enable productive rural businesses.

"Land, water, regulation and market expectations to longer sit in separate boxes," McCabe says.

"Our role is helping clients see how those pieces fit together and identify practical solutions that work both now and into the future."

The refreshed visual identity draws inspiration from land, water and rural landscapes, reflecting both the company's origins and its future direction.

"Our values haven't changed," Haidee says. "We're still focused on practical advice, trusted relationships and solutions that work in the real world. What's changed is the scale of the challenges our clients are navigating and the level of support they need."

The refreshed brand has been rolled out across Irricon's website, social media, vehicles, uniforms and client materials over the last few weeks.

He says dairy and meat are key to feeding the world's rising population. The GDP is based in Chicago and Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell is its current chair.

Moore says NZ is well positioned to contribute to food solutions as it was uniquely export-driven and had achieved significant pasture-based production efficiency. He says NZ was also a leader in genetic research and in finding scientific answers to the problem of ruminant animal-derived methane emissions.

"Globally people are living longer, which is a remarkable achievement. But we need to focus on the health span not just life span, in the face of rising rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, sarcopenia and nutrient deficiencies," he says.,

Among the challenges facing humanity are malnutrition from food scarcity, and nutrient deficiencies - often accompanied by obesity or type 2 diabetes - from eating too much of the wrong foods.

Moore says other problems facing the food system were climate change and the need for science investment into research to find ways to futureproof food supply.

He says this is where the importance of animal-sourced food like meat and dairy in the diet became clear. He says maintaining a good diet influenced hospital rates and quality of life.

"If muscle mass declines, metabolic risk compounds. We need to preserve muscle function and maintain lean muscle mass to reduce frailty and preserve metabolic health. Older adults require proteins rich in essential amino acids and highly bioavailable micronutrients," he says.

Moore also reiterated the need for practical solutions, saying a lot of the food debate happens in countries with abundance and plenty. But by 2050, there would be greater rates of under five-year-olds that were stunted or wasted from food scarcity.

"In low- and middle-income countries the challenge is about nutrient sufficiency not sustainability; in high-income countries the challenge is healthy aging. The common denominator is that nutrient density matters."

Moore says ruminant animals were excellent at turning land that could not be used for arable crops into highly nutritious meat and dairy foods. He says adequacy is not just nutrient presence but nutrient utilisation and says small amounts of animal-sourced food can make a huge difference in population health. He adds that it plays a measurable and meaningful role.

"Food production does have a cost to the environment, but nutrition needed to come from somwehere. Optimisation, not elimination, is the key and practicality matters," he says.

Braden and Brigitte were one of three recipients of the inaugural Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award in 2025 at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Gala Dinner, together with Cameron and Margaret Bierre and Reece and Natasha Cox.

After viewing numerous properties and missing out on multiple offers over the past year, the couple say the process was both financially and emotionally demanding, highlighting the challenges facing first-time farm buyers in the current climate.

"We looked at a lot of farms - a lot - and they were just out of our reach. Dairy farms have been selling for over $65,000/ha in Canterbury. There is a lot of money around at the moment, and people with deep pockets," says Braden.

"It's been an emotional rollercoaster," adds Brigitte.

"We put in a lot of offers which were not accepted, so it was a shock when this one was. It's exciting to finally have our own piece of land. It's been a long journey to get here."

The financial backing provided through the award along with the advice and help from Fonterra and ASB has given the couple the boost to take this next step.

"The funding has definitely helped. It's given us a strong starting point and made things more achievable," says Braden.

The personal support and genuine care from Fonterra and ASB employees has also been key in getting a farm sale across the line.

"It's been really helpful having that support and another set of eyes over everything as we've worked through the process," Braden says.

"Aran Young from ASB has been awesome. He wanted to see us succeed and it's really helpful to have someone like that in your corner. Having someone backing you, but also being realistic and working through the options with you, has been really valuable."

Adam Winter from Fonterra has also been there every step of the way, calling in to visit, sending through links to farms for sale and giving advice around milk supply, Brigitte says.

The couple have bought a 200ha grazing block in Sheffield, Canterbury, with an existing consent to convert to dairy. The couple plans to convert, milk 600-650 cows, and supply Fonterra in the next 18 months.

Strategic Approach

Braden and Brigitte Barnes are currently 50/50 sharemilking 1150 cows. They have sold the herd and will move to the new farm in June. 

Rather than continuing to compete at the top end of the dairy market, the couple chose to take a more strategic approach by purchasing this property with development potential and creating a system that would work for them.

"We had to think outside the box and realised we could do this ourselves and it's a really good scale," says Brigitte.

The farm itself has great soils, with 141ha irrigated and backs onto the Kauri River.

It will be strange to not be going into a calving season this year while they run dairy grazing stock and carry out the conversion, admits Braden.

The Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award is open to people who have previously entered the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.

The award is a collaboration between ASB, Fonterra and the NZDIA Trust. The award aims to help the best in the industry successfully transition into farm ownership, ensuring good succession to ownership and the future of the dairy industry.

The three FFA winners each 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.

All About Backing Farmers

NZDIA general manager Robin Congdon says it's fantastic news to see Braden and Brigitte progress to farm ownership and showcase how beneficial winning this award can be.

"We are delighted for Braden and Brigitte to be able to buy their first farm. We have watched their progression through the Dairy Industry Awards and this is such a significant moment for their dairy career.

"It really reflects the evolution of the NZDIA in supporting dairy farmers from the beginning of their careers right through to farm ownership."

ASB's general manager rural banking Aidan Gent says these awards are about backing hardworking farmers who are putting everything into building a future on the land.

"For many, farm ownership is a long held dream and through this award and its winners, we're showing what's possible with hard work, dedication and the right support behind you.

"We're proud to stand alongside NZDIA and Fonterra to help make that goal a little more achievable. It's incredibly rewarding to see Braden and Brigitte, who were the 2025 winners of the Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award, come full circle on their journey to owning a farm."

Anne Douglas, group director - Fonterra Farm Source agrees it's encouraging to see last year's winners buy their first farm.

"We're delighted to see Braden and Brigitte turn their plans into reality and look forward to supporting their next chapter as Fonterra suppliers on their very own farm.

"Backing the next generation of farmers is one of the most important ways we can help secure the future of New Zealand dairy and strengthen our rural communities. That's why we're committed to giving young farmers the tools, advice and opportunities they need - so achievements like Braden and Brigitte's become more common."

The winners of the 2026 Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award will be announced at the National Dairy Industry Awards Gala Dinner in Rotorua on May 9.

To prove this, Muir has transformed the 500-cow fifth-generation family farm at Aka Aka, south of Auckland - from degraded waterways full of willows to a mecca for bird and marine life.

Last month Muir received the inaugural Kaitiaki Award during an event at Parliament as part of the Dairy Environment Leaders Forum.

The award recognises his leadership, commitment to kaitiakitanga, and immense contribution to the Dairy Environment Leader network and wider sector.

The journey to nurse the farm back to its current state has been challenging, but Muir says he's done it with the support of neighbouring iwi, environment groups, family and friends.

Today, kereru, tui, kaka and kotuku grace the home farm; bittern and fernbird are increasing at the swamp; the waters of Mangati Stream are home to whitebait, freshwater mussels, crayfish, eels and mullet.

He says that as a youngster he heard stories about the streams when he was whitebaiting and duck shooting with his grandparents.

"They were all keen white baiters and duck shooters and hunters and fishermen and being brought up alongside Māori neighbours and community, you get a strong sense of what it was.

"But you also got a sense that things were going downhill, especially with our whitebait and various species it had come to a state where there was no current left."

The first stage of his plan was unblocking the streams - removing the willows blocking the stream.

The restoration also included retiring 40ha of swamp from farming use and restoring it to a native wetland, creating ponds with grasses, flaxes and native trees. With a grant from the Waikato River Authority - a joint iwi-Crown organisation that supports projects to clean up the river and tributaties - Muir has planted over 90,000 plants around the property.

Pest control is another key feature. Over 2000 pest stations dot the Waikato River delta islands and surrounding farms.

Muir told Dairy News that as possum and rat numbers dropped, birds and marine life returned.

"That's made a major impact in terms of the regeneration of the individual indigenous plants and native plants down there, hitherto they just never got a chance, the seeds would be eaten by rats and if something did actually germinate the possum would come along to eat it, so you really notice now on those islands down the river been doing a massive difference."

With the native trees and plants returning so to have the birds, he says.

"We never had kererū or tui here for years, it was quite a big thing if one would turn up, now they're common as, you know, they've increased the numbers nine to tenfold."

The farm is visited by schools and farmer groups. Over one kilometre of boardwalk, again build with funding support from the Waikato River Authority, makes it easier for people to experience the unique environment surrounding Mangati stream on the farm.

"I thought it was an important way of getting people down here, you know, when you can hear the harakeke rustle in the wind, the sound of all the different manu here, and seeing the fish coming up through the current... that's tangible, and when it's tangible, it sticks with people and resonated with them," says Muir.

The Muir family has a long association with nearby wshanua and the local iwi.

Muir, who speaks Māori, believes his family's close connections with Tainui and local iwi - Ngāti Tiipa and Ngāti Te Ata - have helped the journey.

"We've been very close throughout all of those generations, and really quite proud of that relationship," he says.

Think About Future Generations

Stu Muir's advice to farmers is that sustainability isn't an impossible thing to do.

He adds that farmers must "think intergenerationally".

"It's about the doing the little, marginal things giving your kids some place to go and catch eels and build huts."

Doing nothing is not an opton and don't be overwhelmed by the magnitute of what's coming to farmers, he says.

Farms have different challenges and solutions. Talking to one another is important.

"Talk to your neighbours, go and have a cup of tea with your Māori neighbours, or the people at the rugby club.

"There's a lot of knowledge here and if we work together, we can come up with some really good solutions."

Woolerton, current Feds provincial vice-president and North Waikato branch chair, takes over from Phil Sherwood, who is giving up the post after one year in the role.

Dairy News understands that Sherwood is relocating to Taranaki. He remains a Federated Farmers member.

Woolerton farms in Taupiri on 370ha including a runoff. The family-owned business runs two herds, one with 380 cows and the other with 480 cows.

He represented Waikato District Council's rural Hukanui-Waerenga Ward from 2019 until 2022, before the ward was disestablished due to council boundary changes.

The farms have a contract milker who has five staff and this gives Woolerton time for his Federated Farmers work.

Woolerton will be confirmed in the top role at the Federated Farmers Waikato provincial annual meeting next Thursday.

There are already reports of problems with transport companies having to 'hunt down' diesel as local service stations run out and the same applies to farmers themselves.

Alexander says in his lifetime he's seen similar events and says there will be financial pain, inflation will probably go the wrong way and it will put pressure on couples and families. He notes that government will talk about support, but in reality can offer little more than verbal support.

"It is not always obvious, but time is on your side and that in future you will do things better. Above all, support your partner," he says.

In a letter to clients and others, Alexander offers a range of tips that could help reduce the consumption of fuel and put a focus on what is necessary for running the business.

"Walk the farm where possible, use the motorbike or horse rather than the ute, reduce trips to town and maybe carpool with a neighbour; trips to the pub must involve a full passenger load and a designated driver and don't mass store fuel because that is unfair to your neighbour," he says.

Other suggestions to farmers include looking after their contractor by offering some diesel and also paying them promptly. He says farm work can still be done by using less fuel and notes that the ute will not depreciate as much and that you will get fitter and probably lose weight by walking.

"It's important to realise that some couples will be worse off than you, so help your neighbour. Also remember that your tax cost for the year will reduce and above all, don't lose your cool, because this is not your fault," he says.

Finally, a key message from Pita is - more phone time and less fuel time.

The final milk price for this season, which finishes at the end of next month, is set to exceed even the most optimistic forecasts offered in recent months.

ANZ agricultural economist Matt Dilly says last week's ceasefire is very welcome news, but it's too early to say how durable it will be.

"Even in the best-case scenario, there will still be ripple effects across markets and it will take some time before things return to normal," Dilly told Dairy News.

The ANZ Bank has lifted its milk price forecast for this season to $9.85/kgMS, 15c above Fonterra's forecast mid-point.

"This forecast is hardly bold; at this stage of the season Fonterra has already locked in most components of their pricing formula," he adds.

But he cautions that demand could emerge as a concern.

Price-sensitive Asian economies are key customers for New Zealand dairy and are among the most impacted by rising fuel costs.

Dilly says that dairy demand may weaken the longer the current situation lasts, especially in markets where dairy products are not traditional staples.

"The drop in last week's Global Dairy Trade (GDT could indicate that importers have rebuilt inventories to their satisfaction, and that the bearish global supply and demand situation will become more relevant in the coming months."

ANZ's price revision comes despite the GDT auction recording its first price fall this year.

Dilly says global dairy prices have had quite a turnaround in 2026 after ending 2025 on the slide. The GDT price index is up 22% since the start of the year.

"Initially, rising geopolitical risk lifted most commodity prices, including dairy," he says.

"Then in late February that risk turned to reality.

"This trend had very little to do with dairy directly, although the bearish end to 2025 led buyers to assume they could patiently wait for prices to fall further.

"The price surge through the end of March shows how quickly that mindset changed, despite prices falling 3.4% at the latest GDT auction."

"For the current 2025/26 season, this means the final milk price will exceed even the most optimistic forecasts offered in recent months."

With Fonterra's full earnings guidance for continuing operations raised from 45-65c/share to 50-65c/share, a full shared up farmer could get over $10.20/kgMS. Last season, Fonterra paid $10.16/kgMS as milk price and a 57 cent fully imputed dividend - one of its highest ever returns to its shareholders.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell also had a word of caution for farmers.

The revised forecast reflected improvement in global commodity prices and the co-op's strong underlying margins and cost control, but he noted that significant volatility remains, particularly as the conflict in the Middle East continues.

Allen will step into the CEO role on 1 May 2026, with Hurrell staying with Fonterra in an advisory role until September 2026 to assist with the leadership transition.

Peter McBride, chair of Fonterra, says Allen is an exceptional leader who will bring a strong connection with farmer shareholders and customers to the role.

“The Board is really pleased to announce Richard as Fonterra’s next CEO, who will lead the Co-op into the next phase of its strategic implementation," McBride says.

“Richard is passionate about our Co-operative,” he adds. “His most recent role is President Global Ingredients, responsible for Fonterra’s Ingredients sales, optimisation, risk management, trading and global manufacturing."

Allen joined Fonterra as a graduate in 2008 and his career with the co-operative has subsequently spanned the global supply chain.

"He led our farmer facing business Farm Source for five years, has worked in China as Vice President of our Foodservice business, was the founding CEO of MyMilk, and more recently served as President Atlantic based in Chicago, responsible for relationships with a number of our global key accounts," says McBride.

Allen says he is incredibly humbled by the appointment, adding that he feels great pride to lead the co-op.

"I’ve built my career with Fonterra and understand the important role the Co-op plays both for farmers here in New Zealand and our customers around the world," he says.

"I’m committed to maintaining the momentum in our performance, focused delivery of strategy and financial discipline that has been developed over recent years.

“Fonterra has a strong platform to build from and I’m excited by our prospects as we move forward as a New Zealand farmer owned global B2B dairy provider,” he adds.

Received with open arms was Todd McClay, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Forestry, who chose the Feilding event to announce the Government’s support of 18 rural, community-based initiatives through its Rural Wellbeing Fund, with $4m over the next four years.

"We established the fund mid-last year to boost wellbeing programmes that support the rural sector,” McClay says.

“These initiatives will ensure farmers and growers have the support they need to thrive.”

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says the Government is committed to delivering faster access to mental health support, including for the one in five people who live in rural communities.

“We’ve focused on supporting proposals that can have the greatest impact on the ground, as well as new initiatives targeting gaps.

“Partnering with grassroots organisations enables the Government funding to go further and make a real difference.”

Speaking to a large audience, McClay recognised a debt of gratitude to the primary sector, which generated around $80b in revenue and kept the country fed in difficult times and unplanned weather events. At the same time, he confirmed the Government’s ongoing commitments to simplifying rules and regulations, allowing farmers and growers to do what they do best, rather than being burdened by often repetitive surveys and paperwork.

Federated Farmers President, Wayne Langford, thanked the Minister for recognising the pressures faced by the rural sector, often on an individual basis, as many people worked long days, often alone.

“The Wellbeing Fund is much appreciated, but I hope this is only the first tranche.”

Kate Denholm, chair of New Zealand Young Farmers and manager of a 700-cow Holsten herd on a Manawatu farm, repeated the sentiment and went on to explain how the association’s 60 clubs throughout the country enabled better wellbeing through social connection, which encompassed sporting activities, training days and rural community actions like stacking tyres on silage clamps to supplement club funds.

Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins, chief mate of the Lean on the Gate charitable trust, explained how talking to a friend or trusted rural professional could help those at risk understand that they needed some help on their mental health and wellbeing journeys.

Wiggins said, sadly, there is still a very real issue with rural suicides.

“The likes of trusted rural advisors such as stock agents, who regularly work with farmers and are trusted to steer high value transactions, can make a huge difference.

“We have a plan to help train these individuals to recognise rural folk in distress, meaning that help can be offered inside or over the farm gate, rather than watching an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. The grants will make a huge difference.”

Headquartered in Australia, Rumin8 is developing products using a compound which reduces methane emissions in livestock. It says trials with beef cattle showed an average 82% methane reduction after consuming Rumin8’s feed additive, as well as indications of up to 5% productivity gains.

Rumin8 is aiming to develop a range of products including a feed additive, water additive, mineral supplement and slow-release capsule.

AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee says investing in companies like Rumin8 as part of its portfolio of investments aims to give New Zealand farmers access to a range of emissions reduction tools.

“New Zealand’s a relatively small market on a global scale, so our investment is critical to push New Zealand pastoral farming systems up the priority list and support companies to bring their world-leading innovations here.

“Most of our major export customers have set ambitious emissions reduction targets which cover their entire value chain, including the New Zealand farms which produce the milk and meat they buy.

“Being able to show credible progress matters to maintain our market access and reputation as a world-leading producer.”

McNee says Rumin8’s goal of developing products for grass-fed animals and its progress to date, make the company a welcome addition to AgriZeroNZ’s diverse portfolio.

David Messina says AgriZeroNZ’s investment has brought its focus on New Zealand forward several years.

“We’re now planning animal trials in New Zealand this year to support our application for regulatory approval. These trials will test the safety of the feed additive as well as its effectiveness in local conditions.”

Messina says approval for Rumin8’s initial product will help facilitate registration of other related products which are more suited to grass-fed systems.

Global dairy giant Lactalis has taken over Fonterra’s consumer and related business in New Zealand, Australia and around the world from March 31 in a $4.2 billion deal.

Abbott, a global healthcare company, took ownership of Synlait’s North Island assets that includes a processing plant at Pokeno, south of Auckland. The $300 million deal will help Synlait reduce its debt and improve its financial performance.

For Lactalis, the acquisition of Mainland Group boosts its presence around the world - from 42 to 58 production sites in 20 countries. The Lactalis workforce grows from 14,000 to over 18,000 employees and portfolio from 30 to 54 brands.

The company says Mainland Group, which includes iconic brands like Mainland, Anchor and Wester Star butter, strengthens its position in Australia and New Zealand, and accelerates growth across South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, the company says.

“The two portfolios coming together are highly complementary: Mainland Dairy contributes consumer-favourite cheeses, butters, ambient dairy and nutritional powders, while Lactalis brings its local expertise in yogurt and drinking milk,” says Emmanuel Besnier, chairman of Lactalis.

" This acquisition reflects our deep belief in the future of dairy. Integrating Mainland Dairy strengthens our presence in Oceania, Asia, and the Middle East, where demand for healthy, tasty, and affordable dairy products continues to rise.

“We are pleased to welcome highly skilled teams and look forward to developing high-quality products close to the communities we serve.”

Fonterra chairman Peter McBride says the completion of the sale is a significant milestone which sets the co-op up for the future.

“With the divestment complete, Fonterra can return capital to its owners and focus on growing further

through its core business as a New Zealand farmer-owned global B2B dairy provider,” says McBride.

Fonterra shareholders and unit holders will get $3.2 billion in capital return from the sale on April 14.

For Synlait the sale of its North Island assets is an important turning point.

Synlait chief executive Richard Wyeth says it will strengthen and simplify the business while giving them the space to drive recovery forward with a focus on where Synlait was founded, in Canterbury.

The assets bought by Abbott include the Pōkeno manufacturing facility, the associated inventory, and the company’s leasehold Auckland sites - assets held at the blending and canning facility on Richard Pearse Drive and the leased warehouse facility on Jerry Green Stree).

Of the proceeds, $200 million will be used to repay Synlait’s bank facilities- reducing it down to $200m.

But while funds from the sale will reduce debt, Synlait acknowledges it has further work to do.

The company, majority-owned by China’s Bright Dairy, last week reported a half-year net loss of $80.6 million.

Synlait also has a $130 million shareholder loan from Bright Dairy on its books. The loan matures in July.

He dedicated the awards to his parents Ben and Fieke Meyer, who founded the business 50 years ago and are now retired, and also to his current team.

"They're the ones in there every day doing the work, making the calls, and really caring about the end result," Miel Meyer told Dairy News.

Meyer Cheese picked up the top prize for Mid-Sized Cheese and Dutch-Style Cheese for its Vintage Gouda, Farmhouse Cheese Trophy and Export Cheese Trophy for its Smoked Gouda.

Miel Meyer says there was also a bit of relief to get the awards.

"I still remember being a kid when mum and dad came home with the Supreme Champion back in 1994 - that set the standard incredibly high. In many ways, I feel like I'm just here to support and carry that forward."

He says the awards also show that the company is on the right track.

"At the same time, it keeps you honest - because you know you've got to turn up again the next day and do it all over again."

He says there's no real shortcut to success in cheesemaking.

"It comes down to consistency, discipline, and respecting the process. Cheesemaking is a craft - you can't rush it."

Meyer Cheese owns a dairy farm, next to its factory. Fresh milk is piped from the farm to the processing plant daily.

Miel Meyer says they are fortunate in New Zealand to have access to exceptional milk, as that's where it all starts.

"We focus heavily on milk quality and getting the fundamentals right. Just as importantly, we trust our team to take ownership of what they do.

"Over time, that creates a culture where high standards are simply the norm, not something you aim for occasionally.

"From there, it's about patience - allowing the cheese the time it needs. A lot of what we do is cellar-aged, and that's where the real character and depth comes through."

Miel Meyer says his parents - Dutch immigrants - have been "absolutely foundational".

"Everything we do today is built on their values - hard work, integrity, and a real passion for cheesemaking.

"They took a huge risk coming to New Zealand and starting from scratch, and that resilience still shapes the business. It's not just a legacy - it's something we actively try to honour and build on every day.

"Mum and Dad have been retired for quite some time now, but I'm very lucky - I still get to have lunch with them most days.

"We're constantly bouncing around ideas and talking cheese (usually while eating it). It keeps me grounded and connected to where it all began."

Speaking at the annual New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) awards night in Auckland, chair Simon Berry paid tribute to local cheesemakers.

Berry, managing director of Oamaru-based Whitestone Cheese, says local cheesemakers constantly punch above their weight.

"We're a small country, and when it comes to cheese, we consistently prove that even in small places, we create huge flavours," says Berry.

He points out that cheesemakers operate in one of the most open food markets in the world.

And primary manufacturing across the entire nation is under real pressure, he adds.

"We see across multiple categories: walk into any supermarket today, and you'll find cheese from every corner of the globe.

"And that's not something we should complain about. Imports are now a big part of New Zealand food culture.

"They bring diversity, inspiration, and at times, a healthy motivation to lift our own game.

"But there's one thing we must insist on, and that's New Zealand cheese should never be invisible in New Zealand."

Berry says cheeses produced in NZ stand comfortably along the rest of the world.

NZ milk is exceptional and landscapes are extraordinary, he says.

"Our cows graze freely on some of the finest pastures anywhere in the world.

"And our cheesemakers bring together craft, innovation, and a uniquely Kiwi determination to create something genuinely special."

Berry also paid tribute to the people who, he says ultimately shape whether local cheeses are seen, tasted and remembered - retailers, restauranteurs and chefs.

They decide what people see in the cabinets and what appears on the menu.

"And you decide which cheeses are introduced to a customer for the very first time and which ones they go back looking for.

"The great cheese doesn't become great in isolation. It becomes great when it's seen, recommended, plated, cared for, and proudly served."

Berry says the cheese awards are not about moaning about imports.

"It's not about the imports and about them coming on and fighting over shelf space.

"It's about partnerships - partnership on visibility, partnership on storyteling and partnership on backing what is made right here at home.

"Because when New Zealand cheese is given a place on the shelf and a place on the menu, something powerful happens.

"Customers connect with it. They talk about it. They remember it. They discover that cheese made down the road, over the next valley, or on the other side of the South Island, is not just comparable, but it's exceptional."

Berry's company won the most prestigious honour, the Hall's Group Limited - Champion Commercial Cheese for its Monte Cristo.

For the second year in a row, the sheep milk cheddar bagged this award.

In the Puhoi Valley Champion Boutique Cheese category, Craggy Range's Pecorino took the coveted top spot.

Noel Grealish was in NZ recently to meet with Irish people as they celebrated St Patrick’s Day. Every St Patrick’s Day Ireland sends one of its politicians to countries all around the world to be with Irish people and those with Irish heritage. One in six New Zealanders have Irish heritage.

But aside of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations, Grealish who represents the West Galway region in Ireland, visited farms in both the North and South Islands, agricultural universities and research centres and also met industry and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) officials and Minister for Agriculture, Todd McClay. Travelling with Minister Grealish was Dr Karl Walsh the Head of Research, Bioeconomy and Codex in the Irelands Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

This was Grealish’s first official visit to the country and he says while NZ and Ireland have a lot in common in terms of agriculture, the size of farms here is vastly different.

“We have 133,000 farmers in Ireland and that is a lot more than what you have,” he says.

Just take dairy as an example – Ireland has 16,000 dairy herds, the average herd size is 98 cows, and Ireland produces about 8.3 billion of litres of milk annually. Conversely NZ has 10,700 dairy herds, the average herd size is 449 and produce 21.1 billion litres of milk annually.

Grealish says he visited a huge farm near Christchurch which had a mix of dairy, sheep forestry and honey and he says the scale was something that you would never see in his country. The other thing that Grealish noted was the absence of subsidies for farmers in NZ.

“The reverse is the case in Ireland where farmers there get a lot of grants. In fact, you nearly get a grant just to get out of bed,” he says.

Grealish says farm payments are the biggest budget item in the European Union but he says this is likely to change in the near future with money being diverted to beefing up security and defence in the EU.

But while in NZ, Grealish was also concerned about the middle east crisis and its effect on Irish agriculture. He says they sell a lot of products in the Middle East and this is flown in on one of eight special flights every day. But he notes these flights have now stopped and one of the first jobs he’ll have when he gets back to Ireland is to deal with this issue.

“A lot of stuff has been left in warehouses in Dublin because it couldn’t get out on the flights and a lot of that is fresh produce,” he says.

Ireland like NZ says Grealish, is so dependent on exporting and everyone is concerned about the additional costs of getting product to customers as a result of this conflict.

Joint Research Pact

A big focus of Noel Grealish’s visit was to expand and enhance the collaboration on agricultural research between Ireland and New Zealand.

He says the two countries have similar issues around environmental management and it makes sense for greater collaboration in this area.

“We found that NZ scientists were doing the same work as ours and a joint research programme worth 20 million euros was established,” he says.

This collaboration took another step forward during a meeting between Minister Grealish and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay with the signing of an agreement to continue this and other research.

McClay says New Zealand and Ireland will continue to advance vital research to support the development of tools to give farmers options to tackle agricultural greenhouse gas emissions without reducing production.

Grealish says the second phase of the agreement will drive meaningful reductions in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

“Agriculture is at the heart of the Irish and New Zealand economies, and we share the common goal of lowering emissions in pasture-based farming, while supporting farmers to produce more,” he says.

MPI and Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will now identify further projects to progress.

Separately, Ministers also launched the new 2026-2030 Strategic Plan for the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) which has four priorities. These include advancing scientific research, strengthening capacity and knowledge sharing, building effective collaboration and partnerships, and leveraging financial and other resources.

After placing runner-up in the competition two years ago, the couple, both 31 years old, wanted to give it another crack and continue to benchmark themselves against the best in the industry.

This month they won a $14,900 prize package along with pocketing five merit awards. They will now compete for the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards national title in Rotorua in May.

Navdeep grew up in an agricultural family in Kurukshetra City, in the Indian state of Haryana and says, “farming was always around me”.

“As a kid I loved going to the farm, driving tractors cultivation, drilling, and helping on weekends, which naturally led me into a career in dairy farming,” he told Dairy News.

“We also believe that dairy farming in New Zealand offers real career progression – if you work hard, you can grow from an entry-level role to running your own farm one day. That pathway really motivated me.”

Being runners-up in 2024 also motivated them to do better this year.

“We took a break another year and focused on improving our systems, our team culture, and our farm performance, so winning the regional title this year feels very special.”

Navdeep started his dairying career in New Zealand in 2013 as a dairy assistant.

“Through hard work and learning from great mentors, I worked my way up to herd owning sharemilking,” he adds.

The couple are 25% sharemilking and 75% contract milking for Mark and Donna Keaney, milking 1230 cows on 391ha at Atiamuri.

Navdeep says support from their farm owners and the wider dairy industry has been incredibly important for their progress.

“Our farm owners trust us and give us opportunities to grow and improve the farm system.

“At the same time, the dairy industry provides great support through Primary ITO and DairyNZ training workshops, mentorship, and knowledge sharing,” says Navdeep, who holds a diploma in agribusiness.

“That support network really helps young farmers like us build skills and move forward in our careers.”

Farm Ownership

Farm ownership remains the goal for Navdeep Singh and Jobanpreet Kaur.

Jobanpreet says they are focused on building skills, growing equity, and running efficient farm systems “so that one day we can own our own farm and continue contributing to the dairy industry”.

She says winning such awards are a great opportunity for personal and professional development.

“It challenges us to review every part of our farming business—from financial performance to environmental practices and people management.

“The experience and industry connections will help us progress toward our goal of running multiple contract milking operations in the future and farm ownership.”

The viist to the Oxford farm of DairyNZ deputy chair, Cameron Henderson, included a ceremonial native tree planting, and a look at the EcoPond methane mitigation system in operation.

Aimed at reducing emissions and improving on-farm biodiversity, the Nestlé-Synlait partnership rewards farmers with a premium on their milksolids payout in return for their participation in one or more environmental initiatives.

Options include:

• EcoPond, an effluent pond treatment service that reduces methane emissions by over 90%, using core technology developed by Lincoln University in partnership with Ravensdown.
• Farm efficiency projects, including the use of a tool that creates a digital twin of their farm, benchmarks its sustainability, profitability and production against others, and models the impact of potential changes.
• Native tree plantings, with up to 18,500 native trees to be planted each year for the next five years, as part of Synlait's Whakapuāwai programme which has already distributed more than 327,000 native plants since 2019.
• Joining an on-farm biodiversity pilot project to demonstrate what's possible in a dairy farming environment.
• Quickly onboarding new emissions-reducing technology as it becomes available.

Synlait says nearly 40 Canterbury dairy farmers are participating in the scheme.

Chief revenue officer Hamish Yates couldn't tell Dairy News the size of the premium but said "it makes it worth their while".

Yates said the partnership's growth is a great example of how businesses can work together to make a real difference to the planet.

"Synlait has a history of pioneering sustainability. This partnership means we, and our farmers, will maintain our leadership position.

"It has been eye-opening to see the passion Nestlé, as one of the world's largest companies, has for helping New Zealand farmers reduce their emissions. It's a values-led approach that benefits everyone involved and the environment."

Yates said Nestlé was a significant customer and a large part of Synlait's ingredient business. Nestlé aimed to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and dairy sourced from New Zealand was a critical part of that.

Nestlé global head of sustainability nutrition, Katja Seidenschnur, said that partnerships of this kind were instrumental for all parties to reach their emission targets.

"Dairy sits at the heart of Nestlé's business and at the heart of our climate challenge.

"Addressing emissions at scale requires partnership - across the value chain and on farm. That's why we're working closely with our dairy suppliers and farmers to turn ambition into action, through practical approaches to climate, methane and regenerative agriculture."

EcoPond Now A Mobile Service

The Synlait-Nestlé visit to Cameron Henderson's farm featured a look at the latest iteration of the Ravensdown and Lincoln University-developed EcoPond system in operation.

The system arose out of research by Professors Keith Cameron and Hong Di that showed that treating dairy shed effluent with a flocculent agent had multiple benefits including very effective suppression of methane and E.Coli, and altering phosphorus content to a more pasture-friendly form.

As development continued it was realised that there is no need for most farms to have their own infrastructure. EcoPond now takes the form of a truck-mounted plant that visits client farms and pumps effluent through the treatment machinery and back to the pond. The effects of each treatment last for at least several weeks.

Around 30 of the farms in the Synlait-Nestlé scheme have opted for EcoPond and are among the first farms to be treated in the country.

EcoPond Director Elliot Mercer said Synlait and Nestlé's support has been crucial to enabling the development and earlhy deployment of the technology.

"This backing helped move the latest version of EcoPond from a prototype into something that is now cutting methane emissions on New Zealand farms today. We are working toward EcoPond being formally recognised as an approved methane reducing tool by the government's Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which would be a significant milestone."

Mercer told Dairy News that the original EcoPond idea involved a significant and "economically challenging" capital investment on farm compared to the visiting service now being offered.

"We extract the effluent, it goes through the manifold where we treat it and it's closed, it's returned back into the pond and is mixed as it's going," he explained.

"That allows us to get suppression for over six weeks. Then basically we just come back on a periodic basis.

"So from a business model point of view, that means they're just paying for a service instead of actually having to build a lot of infrastructure and have all that complexity on farm."

CEO Richard Wyeth said the numbers were “frustratingly disappointing”.

“They are the result of a period where Synlait faced multiple headwinds and had little choice as to how to deal with them. They reflect a severe lack of optionality, not effort, and they do not define the company’s future – although recovery will take time.”

The results show and EBITDA loss of $34.7 million, with underlying EBITDA of $4.1 million, a reported net loss after tax of $80.6 million and an underlying net loss after tax of $27.3 million.

Net debt rose 88% to $472.1 million – an increase of 88%. Forecast base milk price for the 2025/26 season is $9.50/ kgMS with additional premium payments taking the total forecast average milk payment to $9.90/kgMS.

The company says manufacturing challenges at its Dunsandel plant resulted in a need to rebuild customer inventory. Changes to its manufacturing plan resulted in it having surplus milk, some of which could not be sold and therefore had to be processed into relatively low-value whole milk powder (WMP). Then, to “deliver the perfect storm”, the price of WMP decreased sharply at the end of the 2025 calendar year resulting in significant losses in Synlait’s Ingredients portfolio.

Wyeth told Dairy News that the company had “got behind” in its advanced nutrition production.

“The reality is when you’re making advanced nutrition and you don’t execute that well, you make a lot of stock food.

“So that’s ultimately the challenge of this business model. The rewards are very high when you do it well, but they’re very poor when you don’t.

“The nature of any manufacturing is you never, hand on heart, go: ‘We’re going to have 100 percent foolproof manufacturing’. But we have improved our quality out of sight.”

Wyeth said the key to recovery is operational stability and quality.

“What I’ve done is tried to bring the focus back onto those core areas of the business and uh, as if we execute well, over the next four to five months, then that’ll give us the ability to get into 2027, in more of a steady state.

“What I’d say over the last 12 to 18 months, the business has been incredibly reactionary, and we’ve had very little commercial fixability or optionality, and at the end of the day, that’s led to these results being the way they are.”

Farmers Happy To Stay

Richard Wyeth said that the result does not reflect Synlait’s future. This week it will receive $307 million from the sale of its North Island assets – its Pokeno plant and associated facilities, which it is selling to the Abbott group – which would go a long way to removing debt.

The result is a far cry from the same period last year, when Synlait had come through a challenging period when many suppliers had issued notices to quit but were then rescinding them on the back of an improved performance, partly due to increased investment from partners A2 and Bright Dairy.

However, Wyeth said there were now no current cease notices. Supplying farmers understood why the results are the way they are, and the company would be paying a very competitive milk solids price.

Prominent Canterbury dairy farmer Willy Leferink, who was one of the farmers who lodged a cease notice last year then withdrew it, is now happy to stay with Synlait.

He said there had been some serious manufacturing issues but they had been recognised and sorted out.

“It’s quite an art, to bring that quality product, the whole time.” Meanwhile, the company has released a roadmap to recovery, dubbed as ‘Stabilise, Simplify and Scale’.

It would:

• Deliver operational stability that meets customer expectations, strengthens financial resilience and builds greater optionality
• Align priorities, sharpen capability, and grow high-margin products from existing assets to lift profitability
• Expand markets, channels and customer relationships and execute future growth opportunities.

Chair George Adams said that behind the roadmap sat a real determination to ensure the coming 12 to 24 months would be seen as a period where Synlait under promised and over delivered.

Dean says Hurrell has done an excellent job in turning the co-op “from heading towards a partial sale to being a strong NZ focused co-op again”.

He says that, ultimately, it’s the board’s job to appoint a new chief executive.

“But having someone who understands the co-op and can be honest and frank about what is going on will lead to the style that farmers have enjoyed from Miles,” Dean told Dairy News.

Dean notes that Hurrell has always been a pleasure to deal with.

“Farmers have been able to frank and free conversations with him at events,” he says.

Fonterra announced that Hurrell will work out his six-month notice and leave the co-op in September.

Chair Peter McBride says that after a 25-year career with Fonterra, including eight years as CEO, Hurrell has decided that the time is right for him to leave the co-op.

Hurrell told journalists that when he took on the CEO’s job, the co-op was facing a tough time.

“And I felt almost an obligation to try and get this thing back on track.

“And, eight years on, I think the team has done a superb job.”

Hurrell says he’s been thinking about his future for a while.

“My wife and I have been chatting for a while about what’s next for me.

“And I think that there’s a sort of a natural juncture here with the sale of our consumer business, that it’s an opportunity for a new leader to come in, take the organisation forward to the next level.

“So, I think the timing’s right for a new leadership, but also right for my family.”

Hurrell says if he was to stay on, it would have been for another two or three years.

“But I think eight years is a decent stint and these roles are all encompassing.

“You know, they literally are 24-hour, seven-day-a-week roles. You’re on the whole time.

“And so, you know, it was either committing for those two or three years - it wasn’t a conversation of committing for another six or 12 months.

“It was going to go beyond that. And as I say, I think now’s the time.”

Matthew Zonderop launched Perfect Cow Breeding Systems at Fieldays last year after toying with AI to find suitable bulls to mate with his 400 crossbreed cows.

At the start of the season last year, he did a full genomic trait analysis of the herd with a system developed using AI for a perfect cow.

He then picked out cows from his herd with poor performing traits and matched them to bulls with stronger and enhancing corrective traits.

Zonderop ended up using 12 bulls across the herd. While this is normal, he says the bulls were targeted at specific animals.

A 50/50 sharemilker, Zonderop genomically tests his herd replacements every season. The initial results "were already looking positive", he says.

"Then LIC came back with their full analysis, and it showed even better results than I had expected," he told Dairy News.

"Overall, the picture is looking very good: we've increased milk solid components without significant lift in litres and gains in fertility.

"We've got a medium-sized animal which suits our grass-based system and we've gone for the basic things around body condition score, fertility, milksolid components and calving  ease - things essential in our system."

Whether the tinder-matched offsprings produce more milk remains to be seen.

He says the calves are the first ones out of the system and will come into milking the following season.

"Then we should see the productivity gains on those animals, be it calving ease, udder confirmation or even just more milksolids production and without the compromises that can happen when selecting your bull team".

Zonderop says while farmers will see short term benefits, Perfect Cow is all about developing animals for the future.

"It's a generational thing - each generation you are building towards a more robust animal with higher milksolids for less feed, cow overall confirmation, isn't that what we are all trying to achieve?"

Perfect Cow Breeding Solutions is generating interest among herd improvement companies and rural professionals.

However, uptake among farmers remains subdued, says Zonderop.

It might be a trust issue, he thinks.

"Farmers would be saying, who is this guy, suddenly telling me how to breed my cows - which is completely understandable and I accept that.

"I'm not a geneticist, just a farmer who knows that data works for my herd and which can translate to another herd."

The launch of Perfect Cow Solutions generated media interest and Zonderop remains hopeful of getting more farmer enquiries.

Zonderop says the first year of 'marriage' between AI-selected bulls and his cows has gone well.

"There are no marital issues as yet and we're certainly not filing for divorce."

However, chief executive Miles Hurrell says the co-operative is comfortable with its latest forecast farmgate milk price, which has a new mid-point of $9.70/kgMS.

Hurrell says the forecast range reflects their well-contracted sales book and the firming of global dairy prices during February and March.

The co-op has also lifted its forecast earnings guidance from containment operations - from 45c to 65c/share to 50c to 65c/share.

"This reflects higher sales volumes forecast in the second half and also takes into account uncertainty related to the Middle East conflict," he says.

"We're well-versed at trading through supply chain disruptions, however the situation in the Middle East remains highly unpredictable and we continue to monitor the situation closely."

If the conflict persists and Middle East markets are completely closed off, then Fonterra's full year results would be impacted.

"We are well-contracted for the year but if you see the markets completely closed off throughout the Middle East, we are getting product into that part of the world, albeit with some disruption.

"But if you saw that completely close down, for argument's sake, and we couldn't get product at all there, and cost started to increase, you could start to see that impact."

But Hurrell says he's confident that the current farmgate price range will hold.

He points out that the Gulf states need product for their people.

"In the GDT event, the largest buyers were from that part of the world, which suggests that they're still looking for product to supply to their people."

Shipping remains a major worry for exporters around the world. But Hurrell says their Kotahi joint venture with meat company Silver Fern Farms and relationship with global shipping giant Maersk is helping them move product.

"We saw that pay its way through Covid disruption and we've seen it again now.

"So those long-term partnerships that you have in place really come to the fore in times like that."

RaboResearch senior market strategist Benjamin Picton says the critical Strait of Hormuz remains mostly closed to shipping.

"This is a huge problem for the global economy, as a large proportion of the global supply of certain goods typically pass through the Strait on their way to global markets.

"The most obvious of these is oil, where up to 20% of the global supply is now facing disruption.

"In addition to oil, refined fuels are also affected (15-25% of global supply), urea (30%), sulphur (45%), helium (30%), methanol (46%), and liquified natural gas (20%)."

He notes that New Zealand's liquid fuel supply is now 100% imported since the 2022 closure of the Marsden Point refinery, which had previously provided up to 70% of the country's refined fuel needs.

"Most of our fuel now comes from refineries in Asia, who in turn rely on the Middle East for 60-70% of their crude oil feedstocks. Consequently, the upstream of New Zealand's liquid fuels supply chain is facing sever strain as Asian refineries reduce production runs and, in some cases, exports of fuel are capped or banned altogether."

Waikato Federated Farmers dairy chair Matthew Zonderop says the fuel crisis is a bit concerning for farmers.

"But there's nothing we can do about it," he told Dairy News.

"We just have to continue on the same as what we're doing."

The awards also saw Lauren McConnachie named Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Manager of the Year while the Canterbury/North Island Dairy Trainee of the Year went to Sam O'Neil.

Marc and Megan Lalich, are 50/50 sharemilking 680 cows on Peter and Susan Lalich’s 173ha farm in Christchurch.

It’s the first year the couple have entered the Dairy Industry Awards and they won a prize package of $8,190 on the evening, along with four merit awards.

Marc, 31, and Megan, 28, were both born into farming, Marc on dairy farms in the Waikato, and Megan a sheep and beef farm at Farlie.

Marc originally got a building apprenticeship and then met Megan while she was studying a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) at Lincoln University and the couple later went farming together.

“Our passion for dairy and the cows gets us up in the morning. We love this lifestyle and wouldn’t want to raise our children in any other environment.”

They were contract milking for four seasons before moving into sharemilking for the last three years.

Their goal is breeding better cows to help them expand and grow over the next few years and be able to build equity and get to farm ownership.

They believe their strengths are their financial skills, being able to run and control their business, along with passion for their cows.

“Our motto is ‘if we look after the cows, the cows will look after us’.”

The judges agreed, saying “Marc and Megan demonstrated exceptional business awareness and financial discipline”.

The 2026 Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Manager of the Year is Lauren McConnachie.

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

Lauren ventured from the tourism industry into dairy farming during the Covid pandemic, which was “only supposed to be a one-year deal”.

“As I have learnt and developed in the dairy industry, I began to see why many people choose this career. The main thing I love about farming is working with people both in the team and the wider farming community, and working with the cows to provide them with a happy, healthy life.”

Lauren has advanced quickly through the industry ranks and one of her proudest achievements has been maintaining an empty rate under 10%.

Lauren won a $6,950 prize package on the night, along with two merit awards.

The judges said Lauren “absolutely blew it out of the park” in the finance section. “She demonstrated exceptional clarity and foresight in her planning.”

The winner of the 2026 Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Trainee of the Year is Sam O’Neill.

Sam, 23, is herd manager for Trevor Manson, milking 850 cows on 231ha.

Sam grew up on a lifestyle block but always had an interest in the dairy industry and went to Lincoln University to study a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, which he achieved First Class Honours.

The judges said “Sam presented himself well and made a strong first impression. It was evident that he possess a broad and well-rounded knowledge across all aspects of farming”.

Sam’s future goals involve owning multiple large-scale dairy farms and he aims to get there either via contract milking and sharemilking or building equity off-farm.

“I love the constant challenge of farming and the variety of work. I’m proud to have quickly progressed to a herd manager and hopefully a manager for next season. I am also proud of the network I have built, the skills I have learnt and the knowledge I have gained over the last year.”

He won $6,325 and two merit awards on Thursday evening.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors ASB, CowManager, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Honda, LIC, Power Farming and Trelleborg, along with industry partners Fonterra, DairyNZ, and The Country.

James Langton was sentenced at New Plymouth District Court in January after pleading guilty to two charges under section 338(1)(a) of the Resource Management Act for discharging untreated dairy effluent onto land which could have contaminated groundwater and the Hihiwera Stream near Opunake.  

Judge JA Smith noted the threats and intimidation of Council officers when police were present at the inspection on 12 October last year. 

Officers were investigating the discharge of untreated dairy effluent onto land and groundwater at the 40ha farm on Ihaia Road. That followed seven earlier non-compliance notices from 2009 to 2022, five of which were related to effluent on the site.  

The judge said it was a ‘miracle’ the effluent in the 2025 incident had not made it to water after the inspection found effluent was being discharged directly from pipes rather than an irrigator and a broken outlet pipe was also discharging directly onto land.  

An inspection on 9 October could not be completed when Langton became aggressive to staff and, on 12 October, he charged at a Council officer and police had to intervene.  

“This Court will not tolerate threats or intimidation of Council officers who are doing their job,” wrote Judge Smith.  

Langton, who no longer operates the farm, was denied a 5 per cent discount for personal remorse or otherwise good conduct due to the ‘regrettable’ charging of the Council officer. 

Council Compliance Manager Jared Glasgow said the decision to discard the discount and the substantial fine shows the severity of the incident. 

“We were appalled by the actions of the farmer. There is no place for intimidation or threats to our staff who are out in the community working to safeguard our environment,” says Mr Glasgow. 

“While we work really well with the vast majority of farmers, we hope the outcome of this case will act as a reminder that our staff are people and should be treated accordingly. Our staff are doing fantastic work and deserve to be treated with respect.  

“This case is also a reminder of the importance of following resource consents and ensuring dairy effluent is disposed of correctly with zero chance of it entering waterways or groundwater.”