About NZAEL

Jim and his wife Sue own a 110-cow dairy farm in North Taranaki. Their herd consistently ranks in the top 5% nationally for Breeding Worth and is made up of 50 percent Friesian (mainly pedigree) and 50 percent crossbred cows. They have supplied a number of bulls to LIC, CRV and Liberty, including: Waiau Max Tommo, Waiau Fatal Leo, Paladium Mal and Mint Thadus.

Jim is committed to improving the profitability of the national herd. He has attended animal evaluation meetings for approximately 15 years, served five years as a traits other than production (TOP) inspector, and completed a Diploma in Agriculture with Lincoln University.

Mark has more than 40 years farming experience with current interests in New Zealand (Hauraki, Canterbury, Southland), North America and South America. Mark was a director of New Zealand Cooperative Dairy, NZ Dairy Board, and a founding director of Fonterra. He was the co-founder of Liberty Genetics Ltd and is a current director of several farming companies.

Bovine genetics have been a lifetime interest for Mark, and his stud herd consistently ranks in the top one percent for BW. He has supplied more than 350 sires to artificial breeding companies in New Zealand.

In 1997, Mark and his wife Diane were the inaugural recipients of the A.C. Cameron National Award for Excellence in Farming in New Zealand.

Michelle and her husband Bill own 360 high BW Friesian, crossbred, and Jersey cows, averaging over 600kgMS/cow in a low cost system.  They have a young family with two pre-schoolers and recently purchased their first farm of 100ha in Te Poi after milking a large herd of 720 cows on a leased farm.

Genetics has been a lifetime passion for Michelle.  She grew up with a quality crossbred 'bull-of-the-day' herd, and is now involved with embryo work and bull breeding in her own herd. Michelle is also a member of New Zealand Holstein Friesian Association and JerseyNZ, which allows her to register and classify their elite females.  She says, “I consider myself open minded and enjoy networking and learning different philosophies, especially regarding genetics. I think that it’s important for us to question the Animal Evaluation system, and work to make it more accurate and relevant for New Zealand dairy farmers.” 

Steve and his wife Nina own 550 cows, which are predominantly Jersey.  They farm on a System 3 irrigated property in South Canterbury. Steve and Nina have developed a herd of high genetic merit, which is registered under their stud name ‘Lynbrook Jerseys’. Investment in embryology and yearling matings have contributed to high levels of genetic gain.

Lynbrook has supplied Jersey and kiwi-cross bulls to the AI industry for 20 years. Their most successful bull to date is Lynbrook Terrific.

Steve believes NZAEL is fundamental to the NZ dairy industry, paving the way forward to deliver a national breeding objective capable of optimising genetic gain suitable for a range of dairy farm systems and ongoing industry challenges.

Steve is currently director and vice president of Jersey NZ and served on the board of NZAEL for three years from 2008-2011.

Stewart and his wife Katheryn are the proud owners of the Arkan stud. Their herd contains Crossbred, Friesian and Jersey cows. Within their breeding programme, Stewart and Katheryn focus on profit, type, production and farmer opinion traits.

Their goal is to create elite animals that will benefit the national herd and extensive embryo transfer work has allowed them to make quicker progress. The herd BW is consistently at or near the highest in the country and the herd has produced a large number of elite AI sires over the past 10 years.

Stewart’s passion for breeding began as admiration of earlier generation breeders such as Ned Stirling of Big Hollow and Ken Bennett of Broken Hill.

Tania is a 50:50 sharemilker at Culverden in North Canterbury where she milks 480 cows, a mix of Friesian/Friesian cross. Tania started out with 300 cows and has built up the numbers from the progeny. She is no longer growing the herd, so is concentrating on genetic improvement.

In 2017 Tania was runner-up sharemilker in the Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from Otago University and was a microbiologist before entering the dairy industry.

Together with his wife Raewyn, Wayne operates a 515-cow spring calving operation in the Waikato.

The herd comprises 80 percent crossbreds, with the remainder Jersey. Starting with a herd put together from multiple sources, good stock husbandry and recording practises have seen it move into the top one percent nationally on BW over 15 years of ownership.

Wayne has a B.Com (Ag) from Lincoln University and spent seven years working for LIC, with involvement in running sire evaluations, selecting bull teams, managing the Sire Proving Scheme and breeding and selecting bulls for purchase over that time.

Wayne is excited at the role genetics has to help meet current and future challenges the industry faces in the areas of sustainability and animal welfare, while also improving our profitability. He also serves on the LIC Shareholder Council and the Pasture Improvement Leadership Group.

Wendy and David farm 460 predominately Holstein Friesian cows on a 252ha property situated at Pokuru, Te Awamutu.

The Westell herd contains pedigree Holstein Friesian, milking shorthorn and Jersey cattle and are currently farmed on a System 2 type operation. All young stock are grazed on the property, and maize is also grown on farm.

Wendy is currently on the Holstein Friesian Board and was president from 2015-2018.  She is a qualified TOP inspector, Holstein Friesian judge, milking shorthorn judge, and enjoys judging calf club during the spring.

Cathy and her husband Peter have a dairy farm in Galatea on which they employ a contract milker. They farm predominately Friesian, and have often used Progeny Test bulls to gain access to young genetics. They are system 3 farmers and have looked to genetics that suit their farm.

Cathy was a CRV farm consultant for over 20 years so has a deep understanding of the animal evaluation system. She has been involved with the Dairying Tomorrow Strategy and understands the role that genetics can play in achieve some of the Industry goals.

Kevin currently farms 1150 mixed breed cows managed by his son Scott. The cows are predominately New Zealand Friesian breeding with purebred Jerseys and many crosses in between.

Kevin’s lifetime ambition has been one of genetic improvement started in 1956 when he established AB practises on his home farm. He has been involved in New Zealand genetic improvement for 45 years starting with NZHFA where he sat on the board for 12 years. He has been a TOP inspector for 20 years and was also on the farmer panel when Breeding Worth was first introduced.

Kevin believes that genetic gain and the use of superior genetics holds the key for New Zealand dairy farmers to remain competitive on the world stage.

James grew up on a dairy farm and has a B.Com(Ag) from Lincoln University. His interest in genetics was sparked by his parents’ 140-cow Holstein Friesian herd which has predominantly North American and European genetics mixed with some New Zealand bloodlines.

After university he spent two years farming overseas, one in Australia and then in Chile working for NZ company Manuka. He subsequently worked for six years as a contract milker for Mark & Diane Townshend on the Hauraki Plains including two years at their stud herd Crescent Genetics.

James is currently contract milking 680 cows in Te Kauwhata. He is an equity partner in the business and an equity shareholder in another farm at Helensville.

Nathan Bayne

Dean Alexander

Susanna Booth