The awards also saw Lauren McConnachie named Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Manager of the Year while the Canterbury/North Island Dairy Trainee of the Year went to Sam O'Neil.
Marc and Megan Lalich, are 50/50 sharemilking 680 cows on Peter and Susan Lalich’s 173ha farm in Christchurch.
It’s the first year the couple have entered the Dairy Industry Awards and they won a prize package of $8,190 on the evening, along with four merit awards.
Marc, 31, and Megan, 28, were both born into farming, Marc on dairy farms in the Waikato, and Megan a sheep and beef farm at Farlie.
Marc originally got a building apprenticeship and then met Megan while she was studying a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) at Lincoln University and the couple later went farming together.
“Our passion for dairy and the cows gets us up in the morning. We love this lifestyle and wouldn’t want to raise our children in any other environment.”
They were contract milking for four seasons before moving into sharemilking for the last three years.
Their goal is breeding better cows to help them expand and grow over the next few years and be able to build equity and get to farm ownership.
They believe their strengths are their financial skills, being able to run and control their business, along with passion for their cows.
“Our motto is ‘if we look after the cows, the cows will look after us’.”
The judges agreed, saying “Marc and Megan demonstrated exceptional business awareness and financial discipline”.
The 2026 Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Manager of the Year is Lauren McConnachie.
The 35-year-old is Rob and Jenine Screen’s farm manager for Theland Farm Group at Purata, milking 2170 cows on 563ha.
Lauren ventured from the tourism industry into dairy farming during the Covid pandemic, which was “only supposed to be a one-year deal”.
“As I have learnt and developed in the dairy industry, I began to see why many people choose this career. The main thing I love about farming is working with people both in the team and the wider farming community, and working with the cows to provide them with a happy, healthy life.”
Lauren has advanced quickly through the industry ranks and one of her proudest achievements has been maintaining an empty rate under 10%.
Lauren won a $6,950 prize package on the night, along with two merit awards.
The judges said Lauren “absolutely blew it out of the park” in the finance section. “She demonstrated exceptional clarity and foresight in her planning.”
The winner of the 2026 Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Trainee of the Year is Sam O’Neill.
Sam, 23, is herd manager for Trevor Manson, milking 850 cows on 231ha.
Sam grew up on a lifestyle block but always had an interest in the dairy industry and went to Lincoln University to study a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, which he achieved First Class Honours.
The judges said “Sam presented himself well and made a strong first impression. It was evident that he possess a broad and well-rounded knowledge across all aspects of farming”.
Sam’s future goals involve owning multiple large-scale dairy farms and he aims to get there either via contract milking and sharemilking or building equity off-farm.
“I love the constant challenge of farming and the variety of work. I’m proud to have quickly progressed to a herd manager and hopefully a manager for next season. I am also proud of the network I have built, the skills I have learnt and the knowledge I have gained over the last year.”
He won $6,325 and two merit awards on Thursday evening.
The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors ASB, CowManager, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Honda, LIC, Power Farming and Trelleborg, along with industry partners Fonterra, DairyNZ, and The Country.
