October 20, 2025 • 6 mins
The 2025 Share Farmers of the Year encourage others to enter the 2026 NZ Dairy Industry Awards.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fiona and Tom Langford are the twenty twenty five New
Zealand Dairy Industry Award Share Farmers. Of the entries are
open for the twenty twenty six awards and these two
dynamic young farmers are going to tell us why you
should consider entering the Dairy Industry Awards. I'll start with
you Fiona Ladies first, why would you encourage people or
(00:22):
what would you say to people who are pondering entering
the awards.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I think it's an absolutely great opportunity to look at
your business, a really deep dive into your business. You know,
Tom and I sat down together, you know, discussed what
we were doing well and areas we wanted to improve.
And not only that, we had three experts. You come
and assess us and look at our business and give
(00:48):
us that sort of three six review, deep dive, valuable
feedback on our business. It's not often that you get
experts from from different areas of your business come together
and give you a feed back.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Hey, Tom Langford, you are share Farming's parents farmers. I
understand that, Am I correct in saying that?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Tom?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So before you entered the awards, I mean you would
obviously describe yourselves as high performing share farmers or share milkers.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, I mean we always consider ourselves to achieve the
best results we can. We've sort of been in a
high performing environment working for Yosa Marian who are FIA's parents.
So look, it was important for us to sort of
bench mark ourselves against others in the dairy industry. We
(01:41):
didn't expect to win when we entered the Dairy Industry Awards.
We sort of looked at it as an opportunity to
look at ourselves and look how where we could improve
our business, and so we were really surprised with the
result that we were able to achieve.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well maybe Tom, you shouldn't have been because both you
and Fiona, who are the twenty two five share Farmers
or share Milkers of the Year, You've both got bscs
Bachelor of Science, Fiona majoring in human nutrition. She's got
a master's degree in dietetics. I hope I got that
one right. That is a mouthful you for your sins
(02:17):
a BSc in Food science with honors, and until you
met Fiona, you hadn't even been on a farm.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
No, that's right, very much green. I was suddenly a
surprise for Fiona's parents when I introduced myself and told
them I'd never been on a dairy farm, but you know,
it's a great place to grow up, it's a great
place to learn. We've loved every opportunity we've had on
the dairy farm and the opportunities that it's given us
(02:47):
in our family.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
You were both part of the Fonterra Technical graduate program.
That is how you met. Was it a tough decision
for you and out and out town need to go farming?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
We definitely undern owed about it for a while in
the first place. But look, I think I got offered
redundancy while I was looking after our boy whilst also
doing the farm work, and we never looked back after that.
Made the decision to take the redundancy, and very happy
with that decision looking back.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
You're not only sharemokers, you're also share parents sharing the
childcare duties. And I think you've got three young sons now, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's correct. Here we have three boys, six, four and two,
so they definitely keep us very busy.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
We kicked off our discussion by encouraging people to enter
the dairy industry awards and it's made a big difference
to you guys. But if people are really you know,
the jury's out for them, they don't think they're good enough.
What would you say.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I think you can really surprise yourself, and I don't
think you only do it for the point of winning.
There's so many other things that you get out of
the process as well, you know, the industry connections, the networking,
even just meeting the judges, people that you may otherwise
not have met, and it just opens other doors as well.
For us as Sheer farmers, we were able to meet
(04:12):
trainees and managers who had applied for their potential talent
call for us for staffing in the future as well.
So I don't think that winning should be the only
reason that you enter. There's so many other reasons to
look into it as well, and I think along the
way you learn a lot about yourself too, and you
might surprise yourself.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Entries are open now. They close on the fifth of December.
There are early bird prizes on offer if you entered
before October the twenty seventh are Tom Langford, I'm going
to leave the final word to you. As a bloke
who left town had never been on a farm, I
still find that hard to believe you and Fiona have
been very successful in your dairying career. How many doors
(04:52):
does it open for you?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Look, the dairy industry has been amazing for us and
the opportunity that we have in the future that we've
taken on a second farm this season, so we're running
two farms nearly two thousand cows. I certainly didn't think
we'd be doing that six years ago, and that sort
of a trajectory that you can achieve in the dairy industry,
(05:17):
and I think the dairy industry where wards has certainly
helped us along that journey. So if you're thinking about
if you're on the fence, if you need someone to
talk to, you can reach out to us or anyone's
in the regions. There's plenty of information on the Dairy
Industry Awards website.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That website is Dairy Industry Awards dot co dot nz.
You can enter there before the fifth of December. Final
question for you, Tom, I'm embarrassed to ask for the
owner this one, so I'm going to ask you because
it's her family farm. Have you made more money going
shaer farming and getting into the dairy industry than you
would have if the pair of you had stayed, for instance,
with the likes of Fonterra in their grad program.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Short answer, Yes, it's done. It's been a great financial
decision for us to jump into the Shaer farming and
the family farm. So we're doing very well out of
it and we're very pleased with the decision to move
away from the corporate world and onto the farm.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Sounds like you're living the dream time and Fiona Langford
twenty twenty five share Farmers of the Year Thanks for
your time. You can enter it Dairy Industry Awards dot
co dot nz. Those entries close on the fifth of December.
Fiona and Tom Langford are the twenty twenty five New
Zealand Dairy Industry Award Share Farmers. Of the entries are
open for the twenty twenty six awards and these two
dynamic young farmers are going to tell us why you
should consider entering the Dairy Industry Awards. I'll start with
you Fiona Ladies first, why would you encourage people or
(00:22):
what would you say to people who are pondering entering
the awards.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I think it's an absolutely great opportunity to look at
your business, a really deep dive into your business. You know,
Tom and I sat down together, you know, discussed what
we were doing well and areas we wanted to improve.
And not only that, we had three experts. You come
and assess us and look at our business and give
(00:48):
us that sort of three six review, deep dive, valuable
feedback on our business. It's not often that you get
experts from from different areas of your business come together
and give you a feed back.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Hey, Tom Langford, you are share Farming's parents farmers. I
understand that, Am I correct in saying that?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Tom?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So before you entered the awards, I mean you would
obviously describe yourselves as high performing share farmers or share milkers.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, I mean we always consider ourselves to achieve the
best results we can. We've sort of been in a
high performing environment working for Yosa Marian who are FIA's parents.
So look, it was important for us to sort of
bench mark ourselves against others in the dairy industry. We
(01:41):
didn't expect to win when we entered the Dairy Industry Awards.
We sort of looked at it as an opportunity to
look at ourselves and look how where we could improve
our business, and so we were really surprised with the
result that we were able to achieve.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well maybe Tom, you shouldn't have been because both you
and Fiona, who are the twenty two five share Farmers
or share Milkers of the Year, You've both got bscs
Bachelor of Science, Fiona majoring in human nutrition. She's got
a master's degree in dietetics. I hope I got that
one right. That is a mouthful you for your sins
(02:17):
a BSc in Food science with honors, and until you
met Fiona, you hadn't even been on a farm.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
No, that's right, very much green. I was suddenly a
surprise for Fiona's parents when I introduced myself and told
them I'd never been on a dairy farm, but you know,
it's a great place to grow up, it's a great
place to learn. We've loved every opportunity we've had on
the dairy farm and the opportunities that it's given us
(02:47):
in our family.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
You were both part of the Fonterra Technical graduate program.
That is how you met. Was it a tough decision
for you and out and out town need to go farming?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
We definitely undern owed about it for a while in
the first place. But look, I think I got offered
redundancy while I was looking after our boy whilst also
doing the farm work, and we never looked back after that.
Made the decision to take the redundancy, and very happy
with that decision looking back.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
You're not only sharemokers, you're also share parents sharing the
childcare duties. And I think you've got three young sons now, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's correct. Here we have three boys, six, four and two,
so they definitely keep us very busy.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
We kicked off our discussion by encouraging people to enter
the dairy industry awards and it's made a big difference
to you guys. But if people are really you know,
the jury's out for them, they don't think they're good enough.
What would you say.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I think you can really surprise yourself, and I don't
think you only do it for the point of winning.
There's so many other things that you get out of
the process as well, you know, the industry connections, the networking,
even just meeting the judges, people that you may otherwise
not have met, and it just opens other doors as well.
For us as Sheer farmers, we were able to meet
(04:12):
trainees and managers who had applied for their potential talent
call for us for staffing in the future as well.
So I don't think that winning should be the only
reason that you enter. There's so many other reasons to
look into it as well, and I think along the
way you learn a lot about yourself too, and you
might surprise yourself.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Entries are open now. They close on the fifth of December.
There are early bird prizes on offer if you entered
before October the twenty seventh are Tom Langford, I'm going
to leave the final word to you. As a bloke
who left town had never been on a farm, I
still find that hard to believe you and Fiona have
been very successful in your dairying career. How many doors
(04:52):
does it open for you?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Look, the dairy industry has been amazing for us and
the opportunity that we have in the future that we've
taken on a second farm this season, so we're running
two farms nearly two thousand cows. I certainly didn't think
we'd be doing that six years ago, and that sort
of a trajectory that you can achieve in the dairy industry,
(05:17):
and I think the dairy industry where wards has certainly
helped us along that journey. So if you're thinking about
if you're on the fence, if you need someone to
talk to, you can reach out to us or anyone's
in the regions. There's plenty of information on the Dairy
Industry Awards website.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That website is Dairy Industry Awards dot co dot nz.
You can enter there before the fifth of December. Final
question for you, Tom, I'm embarrassed to ask for the
owner this one, so I'm going to ask you because
it's her family farm. Have you made more money going
shaer farming and getting into the dairy industry than you
would have if the pair of you had stayed, for instance,
with the likes of Fonterra in their grad program.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Short answer, Yes, it's done. It's been a great financial
decision for us to jump into the Shaer farming and
the family farm. So we're doing very well out of
it and we're very pleased with the decision to move
away from the corporate world and onto the farm.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Sounds like you're living the dream time and Fiona Langford
twenty twenty five share Farmers of the Year Thanks for
your time. You can enter it Dairy Industry Awards dot
co dot nz. Those entries close on the fifth of December.
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