Finding a way forward : Fiona’s story

Fiona’s story: Finding a way forward

Two and a half years ago, Fiona Sherlock and her husband Jon were asking themselves a difficult question: “Should we keep farming?”. Their farm on 660 hectares of hill country in northwestern Waikato, on land that has been in Jon’s family for three generations, was more than a business; it was part of their identity, history, and ideally, future.

But in 2024, times were incredibly challenging. Product prices were low and the business was burning through equity. Every year felt harder than the last. Fiona reflects on this time as being ‘a really dark place’. “We loved the farm and didn’t want to sell it, but we were asking ourselves what we were doing this for. We couldn’t keep going the way we were.”

What followed was a journey that would not only transform the profitability of their farming business but also reignite Fiona’s passion for agriculture and help her discover where she wanted to be.

Choosing a different path

Rather than walking away, Fiona and Jon decided to challenge their assumptions about how they farmed. They sold a block of land they owned to free up capital and create space to think differently about the future. And they started looking for new options. “We put ourselves on a mission to figure out how we were going to make it work.”

One opportunity stood out and they soon began trialling a controlled grazing system on a small 20-hectare section of the farm, using technology and new grazing practices to manage cattle differently across their steep hill country. The results were almost immediate with production and profitability doubling. And so, what started as an experiment quickly became something much bigger.

Today, Fiona and Jon have expanded their controlled grazing system across 220 hectares and use Halter’s virtual fencing technology, which enables them to manage grazing with a level of precision that simply wasn’t possible before. And the benefits have gone far beyond the financial returns. For the first time, Fiona says they can protect environmentally sensitive areas of the farm, keep stock out of waterways, retire vulnerable land, and support natural regeneration.

“I never thought we’d be able to look after the environment the way we do now,” she says. “It’s not just a profitability story; it’s an environmental story too.” And their success hasn’t gone unnoticed as they were recently named Waikato regional winners in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, with national judging still to come.

Finding herself again

Around the same time the farm was changing, Fiona was facing questions of her own. For years she had worked both on and off farm while raising a family and had stepped back from some of the day-to-day involvement in the business. Suddenly her children were beginning to leave home and she found herself wondering ‘what next?’.

Agriculture had always been part of her life. She studied agricultural science at university and had spent years working in and around the sector. Yet she wasn’t sure where she fitted anymore. At her husband’s suggestion, she enrolled in AWDT’s Next Level programme, which became a turning point in Fiona’s life. “I wasn’t in a good space, and the women in my group said afterwards that I came in really heavy. But the wonderful thing is that I left enlightened.”

For Fiona, the beauty of Next Level was the clarity she needed to decide where she best fit. “Though Next Level, I realised I wanted to be part of our business and that agriculture was what I was passionate about.”

Today, Fiona works across every aspect of their farming operation, from strategic planning and financial management through to practical on farm work. And she smiles as she talks about how well she and Jon work as a team.

Turning ideas into action

But Fiona’s story doesn’t stop at her farm gate. Indeed, perhaps this next part of her story stems from one of the biggest lessons from the past few years; the value of simply giving things a go.

After struggling to find practical support for sheep and beef farmers navigating farm planning requirements, Fiona and several neighbouring farming families decided to build a solution themselves. Drawing on her previous experience in database development, she helped create a digital platform called Our Farms, designed to help dry stock farmers develop their own farm plans and manage the information required along the way.

The pilot programme has already supported dozens of farmers and attracted backing from industry partners. And like many of Fiona’s achievements, it began with a simple mantra; “Just lean into things,” she says, “it might not go where you expect it to go, but something will come from it.”

Don’t wait for the crisis

Looking back, Fiona knows how easily her story could have ended differently. Had she and Jon      continued doing what they had always done, they may have eventually walked away from farming altogether. Instead, they made changes when they had to. Today, she encourages others not to wait that long. “We’ve found our love for farming again”, she says.

Her passion for farming is why she and Jon are increasingly sharing their story with others across the industry, because they know there are farmers facing the same uncertainty they once faced. And because of this, one piece of advice sits at the heart of what she’s learned; “Don’t wait until the crisis makes you change, make the changes when things are going well. Build resilience before you need it, test new ideas, and learn from what doesn’t work”.

And most importantly, take the opportunity when it comes.  “Failure is only failure in your own mind,” Fiona says. “If something doesn’t work, you’ve learned something. Then you try something else.”

For a woman who once wondered whether there was still a place for her in farming, that willingness to try, learn and keep moving forward has opened doors she never imagined. And it all started with simply deciding not to give up.