First farm secured: Braden and Brigitte Barnes buy Canterbury property with Fonterra & ASB award

Brigitte and Braden Barnes celebrate buying their first farm, in part thanks to winning the 2025 Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award at the National Dairy Industry Awards.

After a year of missed opportunities and tough negotiations, Braden and Brigitte Barnes have achieved their goal of farm ownership, purchasing their first property with support from the Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award.

The couple were one of three recipients of the inaugural award in 2025, announced at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Gala Dinner, alongside Cameron and Margaret Bierre and Reece and Natasha Cox.

The Barneses said the past year – spent viewing numerous properties and missing out on multiple offers – was both financially and emotionally demanding, highlighting the challenges facing first-time farm buyers in the current climate.

“We looked at a lot of farms – a lot – and they were just out of our reach," Braden said.

“Dairy farms have been selling for over $65,000/ha in Canterbury.

“There is a lot of money around at the moment, and people with deep pockets.”

“It’s been an emotional roller-coaster,” Brigitte said.

“We put in a lot of offers which were not accepted, so it was a shock when this one was.

“It’s exciting to finally have our own piece of land – it’s been a long journey to get here.”

The couple have bought a 200ha grazing block in Sheffield, Canterbury, with an existing consent to convert to dairy.

They plan to convert the property, milk 600–650 cows, and supply Fonterra within the next 18 months.

Currently 50/50 sharemilking 1150 cows, the Barneses have sold their herd and will move to the new farm in June.

Rather than continuing to compete at the top end of the dairy market, the couple chose to take a more strategic approach by purchasing a property with development potential and creating a system that would work for them.

“We had to think outside the box and realised we could do this ourselves, and it’s still a really good scale,” Brigitte said.

The farm has great soils, with 141ha irrigated, and backs onto the Kauri River.

Braden said it would be strange not to head into a calving season this year while they run dairy grazing stock and carry out the conversion.

Support provided through the award gave the couple the confidence to take the next step.

“The funding has definitely helped,” Braden said.

“It’s given us a strong starting point and made things more achievable.”

He said personal backing from Fonterra and ASB employees was also important in getting a farm sale across the line.

“It’s been really helpful having that support and another set of eyes over everything as we’ve worked through the process.”

More about the Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award

The Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award is open to previous entrants of the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and is designed to support high-performing farmers into ownership.

The award is a collaboration between ASB, Fonterra and the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trust.

Each of the three winners receives up to $1 million of ASB Business Term Lending fixed at 1% per annum for three years, along with a Fonterra launch package that includes $20,000 of Farm Source account credit, mentoring, and additional support to help them successfully transition into ownership.

The 2026 award winners will be announced at the National Dairy Industry Awards Gala Dinner in Rotorua on May 9.

- Supplied by NZ Dairy Industry Awards