Wayne Hofmann

Wayne joined DairyNZ in 2022, bringing a wealth of practical on-farm experience and a deep understanding of dairy systems to his work as a research data analyst.

Wayne was raised on a dairy farm and has over 15 years of hands-on dairy farming experience in New Zealand and Ireland, including running his own relief milking business. He has also been a Waikato/Bay of Plenty regional finalist in the Young Farmer of the Year competition multiple times.

Wayne’s practical knowledge underpins his analytical work. “Having a solid understanding of farm systems is essential when evaluating data, checking it makes sense, and if not, investigating why,” he says.

His skillset is particularly relevant to pasture performance projects, where he is building on research from his master’s degree. One of these projects aims to improve the accuracy of DairyNZ’s research by enhancing methods for back-calculating pasture dry matter intake and automating data collection.

Wayne holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) in Agriculture from Massey University, supported by scholarships from DairyNZ and Landcorp (now Pāmu), a Postgraduate Diploma in Commerce from Lincoln University, and a Master of Science (Research) in Environmental Sciences from the University of Waikato, all awarded with First Class Honours. During his master’s, he collaborated with DairyNZ to explore the use of GPS devices for capturing grazing data, aiming to improve the accuracy of paddock performance assessments.