52 | nzdairy New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards » Alpine Rose Ltd Rosa Watson Hawera dairy farm worker Shicaela Kane has gone one better in this year’s 2026 Dairy Industry Awards, taking out Dairy Tranee of the Year for the Taranaki region. The 23-year-old, is farm assistant for Dominic Schuler at Hawera, milking 300 cows on 92ha. The farm is a system 4 with Proliq and Palm Kernel fed from shed feed pad, alongside grass and sileage. Last year, Shicaela was named runner-up in the Dairy Trainee category, and was placed third in the same category the previous year. She was originally encouraged to enter the awards by her father – also her boss – and her Primary ITO training advisor. “It is an amazing experience to enter the awards and be amongst like-minded people,” Shicaela tells NZ Dairy. Along with the top title, she secured merit awards for practical skills, farming knowledge, and communication and industry involvement, and receives prize money of $5,000. The award is recognition of the gains she is making as a farmer, she says. “Seeing my progress each year I entered made me want to enter for the last time to hopefully get first place for Taranaki, and it worked. “It was good entering again as I knew what the process was like and I felt less nervous to do it. “I have built a lot of different relationships with other farmers and rural professionals through the industry awards that I will carry through to help my future career in dairy farming.” Shicaela grew up on a dairy farm and worked for a year in a local veterinary clinic before the opportunity arose to work on her family farm alongside her father and brother. “Getting the opportunity to go out on-farm with the vets really piqued my interest. Seeing the veterinary side was a lot different to relief milking cows as a kid, and it gave me more of an appreciation to the hard work and dedication of the industry.” Shicaela recently gained an accreditation in body condition scoring and is studying Level 4 New Zealand Apprenticeship in Agriculture Dairy Farming through PrimaryITO. She is also chairperson for South Taranaki Young Farmers and is part of the Top award for young Hawera dairy farmer Dairy Environmental Leaders network and a DairyNZ progression group. She says her biggest passion is the animals. “Getting to work with the cows everyday gets me up in the morning.” She also enjoys networking with the people that work in the industry. “I enjoy sharing the same vision of the farmerled network to help encourage and influence other farmers to make a positive impact on the environment to ensure we have a sustainable future in dairy farming.” She hopes to set an example for others on the success you can achieve in a farming career through hard work and dedication. “There are so many growth opportunities in dairy farming if you put yourself out there and make meaningful connections. “I want to continue the good work farmers are doing for the health and welfare of our stock, looking after the land while remaining profitable. Her goal is to become a 50\50 share milker and eventually achieve farm ownership in the future. 06 278 4902 • admin@betterdairysolutions.co.nz BETTER DAIRY SOLUTIONS SYSTEMS Home Of • Feed Systems • Water Pumps • Pools & Spas • Effluent Systems • Milking Systems • Cooling Systems • Drafting Systems www.unlimit.co.nz Proud to support Alpine Rose Is your business performing as well as it could be? We can help Learn more at 06 278 4160 • 027 456 7875 141 Glover Road, Hawera www.taranaki-vets.co.nz Clinics - Stratford ▪ Manaia ▪ Hawera ▪ Patea ▪ Waverley Proud supporters of Alpine Rose Ltd Shicaela grew up on a dairy farm and worked for a year in a local veterinary clinic before the opportunity arose to work on her family farm alongside her father and brother.
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