Scientific breakthroughs will play a key role in supporting the future success of the New Zealand dairy sector. Photo / DairyNZ
Content brought to you by DairyNZ
Dr Nicolas Lyons is DairyNZ’s Head of Science
OPINION
Some of New Zealand’s greatest scientific challenges and opportunities sit firmly with the country’s economic powerhouse — dairy.
At DairyNZ we know that scientific breakthroughs will play a key role in supporting the future success of the New Zealand dairy sector.
This is because as the world keeps changing, the scope and pace of challenges for our sector keep increasing, we depend more and more upon greater collaboration and more comprehensive research projects to deliver practical and enduring tools and solutions to help farmers remain profitable and sustainable into the future.
For this, we must have the right people, including world-class scientists, working on behalf of our farmers.
Our research and science teams work closely with farmers across the country, but we also work with other agricultural organisations, researchers and government both in New Zealand and internationally.
This concerted effort was well on display during conference season in November.
Here we make new connections and develop potential collaborations with researchers from different organisations and countries.
We receive feedback, learn new ideas and insights and hear the latest research, which helps keep our science robust, credible and in many cases world-leading.
For example, at the Australasian Dairy Science Symposium (ADSS) conference in Christchurch recently, we had 27 DairyNZ staff members and scientists facilitate and present across the four-day event, covering a range of topics including greenhouse gas reduction, forages, waterway health, the use of wearables’ data, heat stress and workplace productivity.
These presentations started with a field trip where DairyNZ Senior Freshwater Ecologist Dr Belinda Margetts explained what’s on the horizon for improving ecosystem health while DairyNZ Lead Advisor Justin Kitto gave an overview of the cultural significance of Lake Ellesmere as a taonga for Ngāi Tahu and the environmental significance of the lake.
We also had DairyNZ Senior Scientist Dr Callum Eastwood deliver a keynote presentation on the future of dairy workplaces, alongside Professor Marcia Endres from the University of Minnesota.
Callum highlighted the challenges of attracting people on-farm, where our workplaces are heading, and how particular technologies and data might play a role in creating great future workplaces.
Four of our early career researchers also entered the “ADSS Emerging Scientist Award” competition at the symposium — and one of them won!
DairyNZ’s Dr Lucy Hall, Dr Konagh Garrett, Dr Stacey Hendriks, and Dr Charlotte Reed presented research spanning animal sensors to predict pasture covers, insights on methane emissions under different nutritional strategies, linking milk urea levels to animal and environmental risks and the impact of farm factors on the quality of dairy farmers’ sleep.
It was exciting to see DairyNZ’s Scientist Charlotte Reed win the 2024 ADSS Emerging Scientist Award.
This is a well-deserved recognition of Charlotte’s exceptional achievements, including leading innovative and high-quality research, and her ability to convey scientific outcomes to the audience.
When you hear them speak, these young scientists make you feel like the future of the sector is in safe hands.
I then had the honour of presenting alongside Jeff Odgers from DataGene in Australia, on the investment in dairy research and development across Australia and New Zealand.
None of this would be possible without dairy farmer investment.
In the past financial year, DairyNZ invested $40 million in research and development on behalf of farmers, which is nearly half of our total expenditure.
It’s an investment in the future of our sector and it’s our job to make it a farmer’s best investment.
When an economic powerhouse is backed by a scientific powerhouse, we know we have a bright future ahead of us.
Dairy giant Fonterra's $64 million project to convert two coal boilers to wood pellets.