DairyNZ’s science projects are designed to help farmers become more internationally competitive, locally responsible and regionally resilient. Here’s an overview of our current and past research.

Want to see how the top operators are managing their farms? This section covers case studies for budgeting, milking, environmental impacts, and animal management.

The latest DairyNZ media releases, articles and project updates.

Get the latest advice and find out about ways to manage biosecurity on your farm.

This section covers the key areas of track design, how this interfaces with the yard, the yard environment and cattle handling facilities. It also covers yard cleaning and explains how changes to your existing systems will provide several benefits.

Milking is the largest labour requirement on a dairy farm and the timing of milking defines the whole structure of the day. Changing milking intervals is one way to reduce work hours and/or increase flexibility to improve workplace attractiveness.

There’s room to save time in almost all herringbone dairies, the key to improving efficiency is to use a consistent milking routine for all milkers.

Understanding the fundamentals of milking is crucial to ensure the health and productivity of your dairy herd. It's key to maintaining high-quality milk production, optimising animal welfare, and ultimately, driving the success of your dairy farm.

A productive workplace is about getting things done on the farm efficiently to meet the needs of the business and the people. All the resources and tools to help you create a productive workplace are here.

This section covers everything you need to know about management, from setting clear farm goals to motivating, managing and retaining staff.

When you hire someone to keep your business running smoothly, you take on responsibility for managing an employment relationship. Getting the basics right around employment and team member health and safety is a necessity for a business owner.

Well-planned recruitment and selection, and a robust orientation process are key to finding the right fit for your team and giving new staff the best start possible.

Find out how to recruit quality staff, be a better manager, work within the law and grow your people. Employees, find out all you need to know to make the dairy industry your career.

Managing fertiliser application and rates effectively is critical to a productive dairy farm. This section covers how you can use fertilisers efficiently while minimising environmental impacts.

In this page, you'll find details about different pests and common pests, weeds, and diseases of New Zealand pastures and brasicas.

To choose the right supplement for your farm, you need consider the cost of energy (cents/MJ ME), storage, wastage, and feeding logistics.

Our ability to grow and harvest high quality pasture for dairy cows is the main driver of profitability for the farm business.

Recycling, collection and safe disposal services are a responsible way to deal with farm waste – reducing the negative effects on the environment and health risks for both people and animals.

Good irrigation helps pasture grow better, providing more feed for animals. Whatever the chosen system, it should maximise the amount of pasture grown while using as little water as possible.

The land is one of dairy farmers’ greatest assets and managing it productively and sustainably to reduce sediment and phosphorus loss will add further value to the farm.