Bay of Plenty Dairy Awards: Andre and Natalie Meier named Share Farmers of the Year

Andre, 35, and Natalie, 33, said diversification, size of business and a solid infrastructure with shared machinery and resources were 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 explained.

“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-funding an increase of their equity shareholding, and improving their herd figures to have an efficient OAD herd.

The Meiers have had previous success at the awards, with Andre winning the 2020 National Dairy Manager of the Year trophy and being named 2020 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year.

He believed the awards programme helped his self-development by pushing him outside his comfort zone and by making connections within the industry.

Other award winners

The other big winners were Thomas Lundman, named the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year, and Alana Fitzpatrick, the 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year.

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 is in a 9% equity partnership with John and Leanne Howard, their 89ha Whakatane farm, milking 233 cows.

They won $6575 in prizes and three merit awards.

Renee and Ben credit the awards programme with helping them gain insights into their business and said the feedback from judges allowed them to align their goals to ensure they were on the right path to where they wanted to be.

The couple saw themselves at the forefront of the change into sustainable practices that truly focused 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 cited 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, winning $3125 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 2025 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year winner is Thomas Lundman, who won $8150 and three merit awards.

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

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

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

“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.”

Lundman 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 a 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 said.

“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.

“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 wellbeing.

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