Lydia is passionate about helping Hawke’s Bay farmers build successful and resilient farming businesses. Having grown up in a rural environment and now farming alongside her husband, she understands first-hand the opportunities, challenges, and day-to-day decisions faced by farming families.

Together with her husband Sean, Lydia owns and operates a 277ha intensive sheep and cattle finishing farm in the Poukawa district, south of Hastings. As part of their farming business, they developed a dairy goat operation, which became asignificant component of the system. Following a sharp decline in the non-bovine dairy market in 2020, the goat enterprise was phased out, and the infrastructure is now utilised as a large-scale calf rearing facility that complements their existing operation.

Before joining AgFirst, Lydia spent fifteen years working alongside farming businesses through her career in rural banking. During this time, she supported clients with business planning, financial analysis, lending, cashflow management, investment decisions, and growth strategies. Her roles with ASB and Westpac, based in both Waikato and Hastings, provided valuable insight into the key drivers of successful farming enterprises across a range of sectors.

Lydia combines this financial expertise with practical farming experience to build trusted relationships and deliver advice that is grounded, relevant, and focused on achieving long-term results.

Qualifications held:

·      Bachelor of Commerce -Ag Management & Rural Valuation

·      Prince2 Practitioner Certification

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