Our Team of Partners and Affiliates

Angela (Ange) Strawbridge

Ange’s Agribusiness, MANAWATU

Angela has 26 years’ experience in dairy, including the past five years as the manager of a dairy farm in the Manawatu. Ange knows all too well how difficult it is to find good staff and to train and keep them in the sector – an issue facing dairy farmers across the country. She’s also a Dairy Women’s Network Hub Leader, managing five regional leaders across the Whanganui/Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa Regions and won the 2018 Manawatu Dairy Manager of the Year title. Contact Ange here

Here’s Ange with four young Dairy Assistants she recently trained. We love this quote from trainee Loughlan; ”for a guy like me that’s not academic, the videos are great…. and Ange is real nice and positive and her way of teaching is my way of learning”

Watch now to hear what the other trainees had to say.

Nestor and Jackie Eligado

Stream Enterprises Ltd, TARANAKI

Nestor and Jackie Eligado are dairy farmers in the Taranaki region.

By profession, Nestor is a vet and Jackie a nurse. Nestor arrived in New Zealand in 2007 and was employed in Hawkes Bay as a dairy farm assistant. He worked his way up to farm manager within 5 years.  Nestor and Jackie started contract milking in 2013, and now manage 3 farms.  

Through their years contract milking, they have looked after their staff, helping train them to improve their career in dairy farming. Experiencing first-hand how skills and knowledge gained from hands on training adds value to any career goal,. Nestor and Jackie see partnering with Agricademy as an opportunity to help new dairy farmers to deliver this vision. 

Nestor and Jackie are focussed on training Philippine workers by introducing them to the online courses, then training them on-farm and helping them find work in the industry. Contact Jackie and Nestor here

Hannes & Lyzanne du Plessis

Agriteachme Ltd, SOUTHLAND

Hannes and Lyzanne du Plessis arrived in NZ from South Africa in June 2003 with a baby, a suitcase and $20 to start a new life. Hannes started as a Farm Assistant on a Dairy farm in Te Aroha, Waikato and climbed the dairy ladder moving from Dairy Assistant to Lower Order Sharemilkers within 5 years.

For the past 17 years they Sharemilked and Contract milked various size herds from 300 to 1150 cows in the Waikato and Southland and employed many immigrant and kiwi staff  – supporting and educating them and making sure they gOt the same opportunities the du Plessis family did. At present they are contract milking in Woodlands. 

Hannes grew up on a dairy farm in South Africa and has a degree in Horticulture and Agricultural Economics. They homeschooled 3 boys right through their schooling years while running the sharemilking business together. Farm work and education goes hand in hand for them. 

Lyzanne worked at Fonterra as a service specialist and for Primary ITO as a Training Advisor. Hannes has been a Primary ITO verifier for the past 12 years. Contact the Agriteachme team here

Tyree Connor

Training Centric Ltd, WAIKATO

Tyree is passionate about vocational education and providing the right training at the right time – this is why she is excited to partner with Agricademy. As Regional Manager at ITO, then General Manager at QCONZ, and finally founder of the new Training Centric, she has been on her own learning journey that hasn’t taken her far from farming.  She creates both non-formal and formal courses, and advocates on behalf of agriculture training from grass roots to ministerial departments .

Contact the Training Centric team here