Bay Of Plenty Dairy Industry Award Winners Announced

The major winners in the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards, Andre and Natalie Meier, have tasted success previously in the Awards and say the programme has assisted their career progression.

The couple were announced winners of the region’s Share Farmer of the Year category at the Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards annual awards dinner held at the Awakeri Events Centre on Friday night. The other big winners were Thomas Lundman, who was named the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year, and Alana Fitzpatrick, the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year.

Andre was the 2020 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year and was also named the national winner, taking home the 2020 National Dairy Manager of the Year trophy. He believes the Awards programme have helped his self-development by pushing him outside his comfort zone and through making connections within the industry.

The couple are in a 20% equity partnership with Bruce and Gill Cameron over two properties at Otamarakau and Otakiri, totalling 267ha and 760 cows. They won $11,745 in prizes and three merit awards.

Andre and Natalie chose farming as their career as the mix of working with outside with animals and machinery was appealing. “We love being outdoors and physically active, it’s a great lifestyle for a young family.”

“We see technology and innovation in the industry growing in the future,” they say. “We already use a lot on-farm but will continue to grow in this area as we are reaching our full potential and it helps with environmental sustainability.”

The couple would like to see a more consistent milk price with less fluctuation, to help with future budgeting.

The couple cite farming during Covid as one of their biggest challenges. “We had to implement systems to continue farming and keep our staff safe.”

Significant weather events have also given Andre and Natalie challenges to overcome, which they have done by simplifying their farm system to ensure they can ride out any future storms.

“We also changed our system to OAD which has significantly improved our reproduction results.”

Andre (35) and Natalie (33) cite diversification, size of business and a solid infrastructure with shared machinery and resources as strengths of their farming business.

“We are able to share staff and skill sets across our two properties, and business diversity in kiwifruit and quarrying also spreads our business and financial risk.

“We have a herd on one farm which is awesome and a feed pad on the other farm,” they explain. “We also have a great pool of machinery which we share between platforms and we’re able to do jobs such as fertiliser application meaning we don’t need to rely on contractors.”

Future farming goals include debt increasing their equity shareholding and improve their herd figures to have an efficient OAD herd.

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

Runners-up in the Bay of Plenty Share Farmer of the Year category were Renee and Benjamin Howard. Renee was the 2019 Manawatū Dairy Manager of the Year.

The couple are in a 9% equity partnership with John and Leanne Howard their 89ha Whakatane farm, milking 233 cows. They won $6,575 in prizes and three merit awards.

Renee and Ben credit the Awards programme with helping them gain insights into their business and say the feedback from judges has allowed them to align their goals to ensure they are on the right path to where they want to be.

The couple see themselves at the forefront of the change into sustainable practices that truly focus on the health of the animal and the land.

“We are already incorporating sustainability practices on-farm and focus more on our animals and land over profit.”

The couple cite their family as a strength of their business. “We all work well together as a team, and we have flexibility in some of our jobs.”

“We have a long-standing business with relatively low debt levels and a focus on future growth, which means there has been a fair amount of capital investment, with room to expand.”

Alex and Shaun Boyce placed third in the Bay of Plenty Share Farmer category and won $3,125 in prizes and two merit awards.

The 29-year-olds are contract milking on David and Lesley Jensen’s 250ha Omanawa property milking 700 cows.

The winner of the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year category is Thomas Lundman, who won $8,150 and three merit awards.

Thomas was the 2022 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year and 2022 National Dairy Trainee Runner-up.

The 27-year-old is farm manager on Michael and Linda Mexted’s 135ha Whakatane farm, milking 530 cows.

“I have found that networking with people all over the country and making connections for advice has been super beneficial,” explains Thomas.

“Winning categories has opened doors for me that I never would have imagined and has given me the confidence that I’m good enough to take the next step.”

Thomas grew up on a dairy farm and worked as a tour guide and team leader for the Te Anau Glowworm caves, greeting over 140,000 people per year, before beginning in the dairy industry in 2020.

“I chose farming as it was a stable job in a not so stable time and has a clear path of progression,” he says. “I look forward to New Zealand leading the way in environmental standards and also in the wearables technology sector.

“I’m most excited about the future that farming could provide for me and my family,” he says. “If I can knuckle down, work hard then I’ll achieve my goals.”

Those goals include contract milking next season and continuing his career progression in the industry, but not at the cost of his well-being.

“Work/life balance and my family are the most important things to me.”

Thomas identifies communication as a key strength of the business along with a healthy life balance. “It’s not worth having the best business in the world if it comes at the expense of doing the things that you enjoy.”

Niamh Mark is the runner-up in the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager category and won $2,970 and one merit award.

Niamh works on Peter Mark’s 100ha, 272-cow property at Te Puke. She was named runner-up in the 2022 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee category.

The 27-year-old holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from Massey University and worked for Assure Quality in the Mycoplasma Bovis Unit based in Oamaru after graduating. She came home to work on the family farm for five seasons and aims to transition into contract milking in the next year or two.

She identifies living with dyslexia as a challenge, and on she is proud to have successfully completed hr university degree and further study. “Dyslexia will always be a part of my life, but I’ve learnt to navigate which has built my confidence.”

Working with her dad as her boss can be tricky at times, distinguishing between her role as his daughter and as an employee.

“As I continue to mature, gain new skills and take on more responsibility on-farm, I feel I’m successfully managing this balance.”

Lindsay Williams was awarded third placegetter in the Dairy Manager category. The 31-year-old is assistant manager for Cameron Dairy Farms Ltd 118ha Te Puke farm, milking 330 cows and won $2,050 in prizes and one merit award.

Alana Fitzpatrick is the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year and won $6,120 in prizes and three merit awards.

She was runner-up in the same category in 2024. “Through the Awards programme I’ve begun some very valuable networking, and built more confidence in myself and my abilities as a farm assistant.”

The 22-year-old works on David and Lesley Jensen’s 240ha, 700-cow property at Tauranga.

Alana embraces the new technology that is available in the industry and enjoys discovering how it can benefit on-farm systems.

She holds a strong passion for the dairy industry and has completed NZ Certificate in Agriculture Level 3 in Farming Systems, Vehicles, Machinery and Infrastructure and Dairy Farming, and is currently studying towards Dairy Farming Level 4.

“One of biggest challenges is not having much confidence in my abilities,” Alana explains.

“This is improving as I continue to push myself, develop new skills and better my problem-solving abilities.”

Runner-up in the Dairy Trainee category was Adam Manners who won $2,070 in prizes.

The 19-year-old works as a farm assistant on Janelle Nee and Mel McEntyre’s 64ha, 154-cow property at Tauranga.

The first-time entrant has been working in the industry for a year and is excited about the future of agriculture in New Zealand. “I can see myself learning and growing in this industry.”

Adam is currently studying towards Level 3 PrimaryITO courses and hopes to progress to farm management and ownership.

Third place in the Dairy Trainee category went to Julian Tambourlas who is farm assistant on John Fowler’s 90ha, 230-cow Te Puke property.

The Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards winners field day will be held on Monday 07 April at 10.00am on 313 Otamarakau Valley Road, Te Puke 3186 S/N Fonterra 21659, where Share Farmers of the Year Andre and Natalie Meier are equity partners. Also presenting at the field day will be the region’s Dairy Manager of the Year, Thomas Lundman and Dairy Trainee of the Year, Alana Fitzpatrick. Further details on the winners and the field day can be found at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.

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