Farmers Forum

Brad is one of New Zealand’s leading economic commentators. He is passionate about using economics to make better informed decisions and communicates complex and detailed trends in a simple, relatable, and useful manner. With extensive networks across New Zealand’s business, media, community, and social sectors, Brad often brings together a variety of views, data, and emerging trends to inform advice and analysis to key decision makers across New Zealand.

Cameron is most often known for his economic commentary but also has numerous business interests. He is known as a straight shooter. Bagrie Economics is a premier boutique research firm dedicated to providing independent and authoritative analysis of the New Zealand economy and broader economic matters. They focus on delivering straightforward, no-spin evaluations of economic trends and data.

Dave is the author of “Futurework – A Guidebook for The Future of Work”. Dave has presented on stages and screens across the globe. As a Futurist he’s inspired and guided audiences at industry conferences, government meetings and team events for clients such as Microsoft, One NZ, Gallagher, Ballance and AgriTech NZ. Dave inspires audiences with future insights and tools that open minds to new possibilities ahead.

Melissa explores the path to tomorrow's possibilities. With a career spanning technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship, Melissa is known for her ability to navigate the complexities of our ever-evolving world. She was Awarded the Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for her Services to Technology. Recognized as a thought leader in her field, Melissa has advised governments, Iwi, Fortune 500 companies, and startups on strategies for navigating uncertainty and driving innovation. With a contagious passion for shaping the future and a talent for translating complex ideas into accessible concepts, Melissa Clark-Reynolds will inspire and empower you to thrive in a world of endless possibilities.

Diana recently returned from Brussels where she was New Zealand’s Ambassador to Belgium. She was also deputy Head of Mission to the EU and NATO Mission and managed the diplomatic team. Diana’s most recent experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was as Divisional Manager of People Capability, responsible for leadership development, talent management and people capability across the Ministry. Prior to that she managed the Services and Investment Unit in the Ministry’s Trade Negotiations Division. Diana previously worked in the Ministry’s Legal Division working on bilateral trade issues, social security, and air services agreements.

Roger consults in foresight and long-term thinking. He is based in New Zealand and support government bodies and companies across Asia, Europe and Australasia. He works globally advising leadership teams on the links between long-term thinking and strategy. Dennis & Partners have delivered in diverse sectors, including financial services, energy, healthcare, and infrastructure. Roger is a frequent keynote speaker at international conferences on the topic of foresight, strategy and innovation. He helps organisations learn to address complex strategic issues from divergent and disparate information.

Vangelis is New Zealand’s Chief Negotiator for the New Zealand-India Free Trade Agreement. He led the conclusion of negotiations for the New Zealand European Union Free Trade Agreement (EUNZFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Transpacific Partnership (CPTPP), the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and the Malaysia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (MNZFTA). Prior to taking up his role in Wellington in 2017, Vangelis was New Zealand’s Permanent Representative (Ambassador) to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva. Vangelis has worked outside the Ministry including in the Secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(external link) (OECD).

As Chief Science Advisor Bruce provides scientific technical expertise and knowledge at the leadership team level to support science as a core capability at DairyNZ.

Bruce is a dairy farmer and a scientist, bringing a unique perspective to both the challenges and opportunities that the dairy sector faces, and how to assist dairy farmers with adapting their on-farm practices to remain resilient and competitive.

He has spent the past 20 years as a strategy and investment leader at DairyNZ, ensuring that our investment of farmers’ levy funds create a positive impact for farmers and the dairy sector. Before joining Dexcel (now DairyNZ), Bruce spent 15 years with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and AgResearch, where he worked in soil science and catchment management, including hill country and lowland studies. At Dexcel, Bruce led the farm systems research team and was involved with the Holstein-Friesian Strain Trial and the Lake Taupo policy process, before taking on his current role.

David is General manager of Farm solutions and Policy at DairyNZ. This team leverages DairyNZ’s farm systems capability across solutions and development, policy, biosecurity and farmer-facing teams, and has a key role in strengthening DairyNZ’s ability to positively influence farmer change for the future success of the dairy sector. He is passionate about ensuring New Zealand dairy farmers and sector can continue to adapt to remain sustainable and competitive.

David is a water quality scientist with more than 20 years of national and international experience in applied water resources management. He has held numerous roles since joining DairyNZ in 2013 and has previously worked as a scientist and advisor for Deltares, an independent international water research institute based in the Netherlands and then Singapore.

As Head of Economics at DairyNZ Mark looks after teams working on economic analysis, modelling, forecasting and the DairyBase data collection.

He was previously Manager of Climate Policy at the Ministry for the Environment and has considerable experience working with climate, energy and agricultural policy issues in New Zealand and overseas. His overseas experience included 17 years living in Sweden and France where he worked for the Swedish Ministry of Finance, the Swedish Energy Agency and the OECD. Mark has also been a climate negotiator for both the New Zealand and European Union climate delegations.

With dairy farming roots, Mark co-own’s a family dairy farm at Waiterimu in the North Waikato.

Paul is a Senior Scientist at DairyNZ, specialising in Farm Systems. Over the past 15 years, his research has spanned topics including milking management to improve labour efficiency, animal welfare, nutrient management, and strategic and operational farm management.

He has a keen interest in how to integrate new knowledge and technology into the farm system to extract value for farmers. With family dairy farming in Northland, he believes farmer involvement is key to successful research projects.