10 | nzdairy Kelsey and Craig recognised for talents Karen Phelps Kelsey and Craig Fisher have found that their matching talents have been a recipe for success, which saw them named runners up in the Share Farmer of the Year Award for the Taranaki Region at the 2026 NZ Dairy Industry Awards. Craig comes from a farming family but for Kelsey, an accountant at BDO Taranaki, farming is new. “Kelsey definitely challenges me with what I do,” says Craig. “And it’s so nice our budget is virtually done daily.” “Part of that is me asking questions as to why things are done the way they are as I don’t understand which can prompt Craig to re-think things,” adds Kelsey. “Farmers don’t think of themselves of being in business; I see that a lot in my job at BDO. Our business is now doing a lot better by thinking about things more and investing in the right places.” Craig grew up on a family dairy farm in Coastal Taranaki and when finished school he started working for his parents before going to Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre. He then worked on various dairy farms around Taranaki before being given the keys to 50/50 sharemilking at age 22. Unfortunately after a couple of seasons that farm was sold and Craig then started working where they are now as a 50/50 sharemilker on his parents second farm. He has now clocked up 12 years on the farm, which totals 82ha effective and peak milks a herd of 240 crossbred cows. Located in Cardiff, ten minutes out of Stratford, it is a high altitude farm next to the Mt Taranaki Reserve. The couple won two merit awards – the Connect Legal Environmental Sustainability Award and the Trelleborg Sustainable Pasture Award. Kelsey says Craig and his parents have done a lot of work regarding riparian planting and fencing off waterways, particularly important as the farm runs alongside the Waingongoro River, something that was recently noted by the local council. “Taranaki Regional Council has done audits of the farms, which lie in proximity of the river and the lady was so excited to give us the results as we got an A on every single category, which is not very common. So Craig and his family’s work around riparian planting and fencing off waterways has been really exceptional.” It was in August last year the couple put Halter on the herd. “I’m very numbers focused,” says Kelsey, “so we use Halter alongside Aimer, which is a pasture management tool to give consistency in what cows are fed each day. Using both of those technologies, and me taking a more hands on approach to managing pasture, has meant we’ve really been able to improve pasture utilisation. It’s taken things from ‘hey DAIRY PEOPLE » Crayfish Trust Craig grew up on a family dairy farm in Coastal Taranaki and when finished school he started working for his parents before going to Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre. FARMSOURCE STRATFORD 3872B Mountain Road, Stratford 06 765 5348 027 376 1371 Nzfss.stratford@fonterra.com Weekdays: 8.00am - 5.00pm Saturdays: 9.00am - 12.00pm nzfarmsource.co.nz “Ongoing research & development results in superior products & performance advantages including; more yield, faster milking, no slip and no teat end damage.” the cows go there because it’s the next paddock in the round’ to making informed decisions. “We’re in a colder area with high rainfall and we’re not getting good pasture growth year round. Our pasture consumed per hectare has dramatically improved since using these tools. Our homegrown food eaten in the 24/25 season was 11.1 tonnes of dry matter per hectare. Now it’s 12.5 tonnes.” The results have manifested in their production figures. In the 2024-2025 season production per hectare was 1088kgsMS. The following season it was 1228kgsMS. Alongside the introduction of technology they also used off farm winter grazing rather than growing winter crop on farm and also milked more cows, about 30 extra. It was all these changes that have really scaled up the farm. They have also done a lot of under sowing and re-grassing to move to species that can grow under the colder wetter conditions there. Next season is a new adventure – they will move back to farm Craig previously worked on from 2007. Located in Coastal Taranaki, the farm is 169ha and will milk 480 cows. “We’re pretty excited as it means Craig can have some time off as due to the size of the farm we can have an employee and a better work-life balance,” says Kelsey. “I’ve doing what I’ve been doing for over of 20 years,” says Craig, “and I’m looking forward to helping pass some of that experience onto someone as well.”
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