Jane Lacy-Hulbert

Jane joined DairyNZ over 30 years ago and is highly regarded in the industry for her mastitis expertise. She has a deep understanding of milk composition, lameness, body condition score, reproduction science, and animal health within farm systems.

Jane is passionate about sharing knowledge with farmers and vets. “It’s vital to create spaces where different parts of the sector can talk and connect. It's about supporting the sector to ensure key messages are clear, consistent, evidence-based, and helpful for farmers.

“During my career, I’ve enjoyed working with amazing people to focus on a variety of issues, like growing our understanding of Streptococcus uberis mastitis. Another highlight has been working on the SmartSAMM programme - putting that body of work together and making it accessible to farmers and vets - and more recently, supporting the InCalf programme. Other highlights include supervising PhD students and overseeing the team of developers for the animal and feed area. My work experiences have broadened my horizons, helping me understand the resources we use in science and the key principles underpinning dairy farming.”

Jane looks forward to continuing her involvement in research that has an impact on the whole New Zealand dairy sector. An added benefit is working in an industry where the distance from research to vets and farmers is short.

Jane completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Agricultural Biochemistry at Newcastle University. She followed this up with a PhD at the University of Reading where she focussed on mastitis in cattle - setting the scene for her future career.