Пара из Англии стала финалистами конкурса «Фермер года» в Новой Зеландии

George King (28) and Hannah Lukins (27) were the 2026 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Bay of Plenty Share Farmer of the Year runners-up. Photo / Catherine Fry For George King and Hannah Lukins, the dream of dairy farm ownership began long before they arrived in New Zealand. Raised on neighbouring dairy farms in England, the couple grew up in vastly different farming systems but shared the same ambition: to build a future in pasture-based dairying. After yearsof juggling multiple jobs, leasing land, raising livestock and searching for opportunities in the United Kingdom, they realised their dream would be easier to chase on the other side of the world. Today, the pair are making impressive strides in the Bay of Plenty dairy industry. The Matatā-based sharemilkers were named runners-up in the 2026 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Bay of Plenty Share Farmer of the Year competition, collecting four merit awards and earning praise from judges for their disciplined financial management, strong leadership and clear vision for growth. A chance meeting in a Dunedin bar revealed that their family farms in England backed onto each other, despite the pair never knowing each other growing up. That discovery sparked a partnership that has since taken them halfway around the world and onto a pathway they hope will eventually lead to farm ownership. Now milking 250 cows and steadily building equity, the couple are proving that determination, careful planning and a willingness to embrace opportunity can turn a farming dream into reality. Speaking to Coast & Country News, King said his family were first-generation dairy farmers, which was rare in England. “My parents have always run a pasture-based system; they use New Zealand genetics, read the Dairy Exporter and are part of grazing discussion groups.” King’s parents are split calving, 500 Kiwi X cows milking twice a day through a 50-bail rotary shed run in a similar way to a New Zealand production system 3/4. “My father progressed by rearing surplus livestock, buying grazing blocks and converting them to dairy farms and making opportunities from developing land into higher productive assets.” King completed agricultural diplomas in England and gained experience working on several very different farms before coming to New Zealand in 2018 to work as 2IC on a 1000-cow dairy unit near Balclutha. Intensive dairy farming “I grew up on a family-run dairy farm milking 250 Holstein Friesians twice a day; the system is high input, closed herd with the stock housed all year round,” Lukins said. She studied agriculture at college and went on to study at the Royal Agricultural University to become a registered valuer. In the summer break between her second and third year, Lukins came to New Zealand to milk dairy goats and do a Kiwi Experience bus tour. Serendipitously, she met King in a bar in Dunedin and a few drinks later they realised that their family farms backed onto each other and their paths must have unknowingly crossed many times. Lukinsh returned to England to complete her degree, and King returned in November 2019. Farming life in England “Trapped in England during Covid-19, we did everything we could to find our next steps,” King said. The couple looked at leasing council-owned farms, but the leases had no guarantee of renewal, and it wasn’t a path to ownership. “There are limited opportunities available each year in the UK, with no mainstream loans for livestock,” King said. “The machinery requirements for the system type is no small cost, so you have to have a much higher capital outlay up front.” The couple worked hard to build equity, Lukins working fulltime as a valuer and King a fulltime dairy farm manager, also managing his parents’ lease block, contracting on the side and raising Angus X yearlings on their own lease block. Moving to New Zealand “We tried so many different things and looked for opportunities to follow our dream of owning our own pasture-based dairy farm for ourselves,” Lukins said. “George was really keen to return to New Zealand, and we’d both been impressed by the clear pathway and support from the industry.” The couple moved to New Zealand when Lukins secured a position as a valuer, and King found a job nearby.