Stu Morgan

Stu is DairyNZ’s Science Support Manager, working with farm and technical teams to implement science projects.

Trials are carried out throughout New Zealand, on commercial farms and dedicated research farms, including DairyNZ’s Lye and Scott Farms in the Waikato, South Island Dairy Demonstration Centre (SIDDC) in Canterbury, and the Southern Dairy Hub in Southland.

Stu was employed to lead the team of research technicians in 2007. However, he started at DairyNZ in 1996 and, apart from a short three-year break, has been here ever since. He has always been involved in agriculture and brings the practical expertise he gained in his 16 years’ sharemilking to the role. Alongside that he believes people-skills are a must-have in his job.

“There is a diverse range of people here and you need to be able to work with them” says Stu. “I am surrounded by a good team; everyone is here for the right reasons. I also make sure I don’t ask them to do anything I haven’t done myself; it is important to walk the talk.” Stu finds mentoring young people and watching their development particularly rewarding.

He also enjoys working with animals daily and contributing to the ongoing research on the farms. He has great memories of the Fertility BV trial work. This trial involved the collection of 640 four-day-old heifer calves from locations throughout the North Island and then taking more than 72,000 blood samples over the course of the study. The teamwork required to get the work done and the meaningful results the study produced are a career highlight for him. Looking forward, he is focused on continuing his involvement with projects that add value to the industry.