Preet Singh

For Preet Singh, farming excellence comes down to one thing: producing good results. You can talk all day about farming, but it means nothing if you do not produce good results on farm. As the Farm Manager at Tram Road on the West Coast, Preet achieved the highest milksolids per hectare during the 2023-24 season since the farm was established. He also recorded the lowest empty rate within Pāmu for 2025. This work helped him win the 2026 West Coast/Top of the South Dairy Manager of the Year award. 

Preet came to Pāmu from a neighbouring farm, drawn by better infrastructure and opportunities at Tram Road. Since then, he has turned the farm around, taking it from the lowest in-calf rate in Pāmu one year to the second highest six-week in-calf rate the next.

What motivates Preet is producing good results and breaking farm production records with the skill set he has, and how he can improve it more to produce even better results. This cannot be achieved without consistent hard work. 

What really gets him out of bed is working with well-raised cows from the day they are born right through till they become highly producing animals. Nothing makes him more proud and satisfied than working on this god-made beautiful land, which the team tries to preserve with daily sustainable farming practices. 

• Working in the beautiful environment of the West Coast. With all the wildlife around and wonderful views of the Tasman Sea from his house, Preet enjoys the quiet life on farm away from all the noise of town. 
• The support around his role. Whether it is machinery experts, an environmentalist, agronomist, or health and safety teams, Preet always learns something new when he chats with them. 
• Work and life balance. Living on farm with a view of the Tasman Sea provides a quality of life that matters. 

For Preet, farming excellence is producing good results because it is not achievable by being half-minded on farm or through one day of hard work. In his daily work life, everything he does from start of season till end relates to that: drying off cows at good body condition score, achieving 1 June pasture targets, executing the seasonal rotation planner well, executing mating plans to achieve good six-week in-calf rates, maintaining pasture qualities in second and third pasture rounds on farm. 

The results prove the approach works. Tram Road had the lowest in-calf rate in Pāmu one year, then achieved the second highest six-week in-calf rate the next year. 

Of Pāmu values, Preet relates most to working shoulder to shoulder with his team, listening to their day-to-day ups and downs, and staying open to their suggestions so they can make the farm more productive than yesterday. It is better to have five brains working productively than one. 

Preet has diversity in his team: a Production Manager from Nepal who likes to work hard and complete tasks set every day, a Dairy Assistant from South India who worked in the Middle East on farms for 10 years and has lots of mechanical knowledge, and two other Dairy Assistants (both Kiwis) who both bring different skill sets to the table too. Working as a team is quite enjoyable. They all bring different ideas to the table for the same task, but at the end we go with the efficient one. 

For Preet, te ao Māori means manaakitanga: creating a positive and collaborative environment by caring for and respecting each other. This encourages everyone to work together, building a workplace where everyone feels valued. 

Preet has a lot of awards displayed in his office that make him proud of what he has achieved at Tram Road: highest ever milksolids per hectare produced at Tram Road farm in 2023-24 since it was established, lowest empty rate in the company in 2025, best producing calves every year, grade-free seasons. His best moment was last year having the lowest empty rate in the whole of Pāmu and winning the NZDIA West Coast/Top of the South Manager award this year. 

In five years, Preet sees himself in a better management role or self-employed as a contract or sharemilker. The progression reflects his ambition and proven track record of delivering results.