They milk 650 cows on the 223ha Wyndham property for Andrew and Jenny Calder, as well as a further 450 for Mr Bennetts' father, David, at Brydone on his 150ha farm.
They employ three full-time staff on the Calder property, and two full-timers and a relief milker at the Bennetts one.
They milk 280,000kgMS for the Calders and 190,000kgMS for the Bennetts and both herds winter away.
They also have 15-month-old daughter, Alexia, who spends a lot of her time on the farm with her parents.
In addition, the Wyndham property was inundated when the Mataura River burst its banks on February 5.
They were under lockdown as part of the Covid-19 restrictions when they heard their names announced as award winners during a broadcast on social media on March 28
The couple, both 31, won $10,850 in prizes plus two merit awards.
‘‘We entered the competition to push ourselves as we like to do something different every year,'' Mrs Bennetts said.
She said diversification and their excellent staff were two major strengths of their business.
‘‘We had been approached by two different people to enter but we thought we were too busy this year — maybe another time.
‘‘Then we thought about it and there was never going to be a good time to do it, so we entered and we enjoyed the challenge.''
They prepared a two-hour presentation about the farms and businesses, including their four investment properties.
‘‘Buying the investment properties was a huge achievement for us.
‘‘We’re also proud we achieved our goal of record milk solid production on one of our farms, which was a massive accomplishment for us and our team,'' she said.
The presentation was a lot of work and in the middle of that they got flooded.
‘‘We’ve never experienced flooding this bad.
‘‘Dealing with the aftermath was very challenging as we had 100 hectares go under water which meant we had 100 hectares to clean up afterwards.
‘‘Rural support was fantastic and we were extremely grateful to receive help from volunteers in the Farmy Army.’’
As winners they now need to record a 2 and a-half-hour presentation about their operations for the national judges — using cellphone and laptop, in keeping with Covid-19 restrictions — and have until May 15 to complete it.
‘‘Then we will be able to relax.''
Mrs Bennetts grew up on a dairy farm on the West Coast and was an AI technician and Fertilizer New Zealand representative for nine years.
She also has a degree in science, with a major in animal science.
Mr Bennetts, a builder, grew up on a sheep and beef farm.
‘‘We have been around cows our whole lives and both having farming in the blood,'' she said.
‘‘We started contract milking and found it was something we both enjoyed.''
They originally began their dairy career on a Mossburn farm in 2014, moving to the Calders' property last June.
‘‘Going farming as opposed to building was a more family friendly lifestyle and Sam is within coo-ee on the farm.
‘‘We were delighted with the win but due to the lockdown we have not seen anyone, although we have lots of congratulations online.''
When not working they enjoy travelling to different countries every second year, although this year Covid-19 has prevented their planned trip to Europe.
‘‘We might travel around New Zealand in the winter to visit family, depending what happens with lockdown.''
They both enjoy scuba diving and often go to Doubtful Sound.
‘‘That is where Sam proposed to me,'' she said.
They had been diving for about 20 minutes and while underwater he showed her a laminated card with ‘‘Will you marry me?'' on it.
