Keely Buckingham

Keely and her husband run a 300ha sheep farm, but she’s equally loving her regional team role helping dairy farmers get ahead.

“With the ever-evolving space that is the New Zealand dairy sector, it’s critical that DairyNZ continues to provide support to farmers. Doing this ensures they continue to run thriving and sustainable businesses, which also support their people and communities.

“Our team also runs run events to bring farmers and others in the sector together. That helps us to identify each other’s strengths and how we can work together better across the region.”

A bit of humour is always welcome, too.

“On one of our Pasture Skills days focusing on grazing management, pre and post residuals, we compared target residuals and residuals not being met, to eating a chocolate bar versus a dry Weetbix. Our unlucky demonstrators suffered their way through a dry Weetbix to illustrate the point!”

Before Keely joined the Southland regional team, she worked in DairyNZ’s Mycoplasma Bovis response team.

“That gave me a fantastic insight into our farmers’ passion for their businesses, biosecurity’s importance in the sector, and just how important the advocacy work DairyNZ does in that space really is.

“I’ve also been involved in running DairyNZ’s Mark and Measure courses, alongside farm business specialists Paul Bird and Sarah Brown – it’s been one of the highlights in my role here.

“I love my work. Not only is the DairyNZ regional team super approachable, we can also connect farmers with well-known, respected scientists and experts and other sector partners. So please, reach out to us any time.”

• Find out more about DairyNZ’s other Lower South Island regional team members.
• Check out our nationwide regional teams.