Research

The combination of a shrinking milk pool, increasing geopolitical volatility, and heavy market concentration in China, is placing unprecedented pressure on dairy exporters. Malinda Wynyard’s 2025 Kellogg Report explores the fertile ground for innovation, differentiation and strategic global positioning into emerging markets. Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.

The Net Zero Pilot Dairy Farm in Taranaki is giving farmers valuable insights into the levers they could pull to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), sharing what’s working and what tactics they should assess with caution. Words Anne Lee.

A Waikato school dairy farm’s tertiary collaboration is proving a successful model for sharing best practice with farmers and bringing on the next generation. Words Anne Lee.

A major rethink of how New Zealand dairy farms feed their animals. Kaitlin Bates says smarter, science-based nutrition may hold the key to dairy’s next productivity and profitability gains. Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.

The Southern Dairy Hub (SDH) is carrying out comparative demonstration at scale, looking at a Standard Herd and a Future Herd, which is focused on greater individual cow performance. Words Southern Dairy Hub.

In this episode, Anne Lee speaks to Andrea Dixon, General Manager of the Southern Dairy Hub, and Dawn Dalley, Senior Scientist at DairyNZ. Andrea provides a background on the farm’s history, how it’s set up, what’s on the agenda over the coming season and HubWatch - an easy to access, online way of getting the latest information from the Southern Dairy Hub.

Dawn explains the latest side-by-side herd study which is comparing a “standard herd” run at a 3.1 cows/ha stocking rate with a”future herd” of high genetic merit cows run at a lower stocking rate of 2.9 cows/ha. She gives an update on the first season’s results and shares insights from other studies including research on wintering practices with interesting insights into the importance of soil wetness compared with pugging depth.

DairyNZ, AgResearch and Fonterra researchers are working together to better understand the issue of heat stress and the Southern Dairy Hub is one of the research farms. By Andrea Dixon.

Researchers have taken a look at dairy farming from the cows’ perspective. By Elaine Fisher

A Taranaki scientific team is testing the development of a rapid antigen test (RAT) for the detection of facial eczema (FE). By Elaine Fisher.

How would you lead the conversation? University of Canterbury researcher Franca Buelow asks.