Monday 07 April
Optional Field Trip to PrimePort of Timaru and Opuha Water Limited 

Julia Crossman
Environmental & Regulatory Manager
Ophua Water Ltd

Julia joined OWL in 2014, and oversees the environmental aspects of our business including consent compliance, new consenting activities, and active participation in national and regional planning and policy processes of relevance to OWL’s operation.  Julia leads the environmental team in ensuring robust monitoring programmes are in place across the scheme and wider catchment, and shareholders are supported through the audited farm environment plan programme and training opportunities.   

Matt oversees the strategic planning, management, and delivery of Opuha Water’s assets and infrastructure, including dam safety and compliance. Ensuring the successful execution of initiatives and projects throughout their entire delivery lifecycle. Includes overseeing a diverse portfolio of projects, encompassing activities such as scoping, design, approvals, funding, procurement and through to delivery.

Phil Melhopt
Chief Executive
Primeport Timaru

Tuesday 8 April

Unlocking Dairy Gains: Harnessing Tech & Expertise for On-Farm Success

Ryan Luckman
Veterinary

Ryan is a large animal veterinarian at the Veterinary Centre Waimate, working closely with dairy, sheep, and beef farmers. With over 15 years of experience, he has seen his role evolve from traditional ambulatory work to a data-driven approach that influences entire farm systems.

Passionate about agritech and precision Farming, Ryan has been instrumental in leveraging data from collars to develop herd-level decision-making tools. His work includes retrospective data analysis, dashboard development, and benchmarking reports focused on improving farm efficiency, with key projects in Transition Management monitoring, Pre-Mate Heat Benchmarking, and Collar Repro Review.

Ryan has also pursued advanced studies, earning Membership with the Australia & New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Veterinary Epidemiology and currently undertaking a Master’s at Massey University, specialising in epidemiology (particulary in the use of R)

His dedication to integrating data, farming systems, and technology led him to establish Agvisory.nz, where he helps agritech companies transform innovative technology into practical farm solutions. Always eager to collaborate, Ryan is driven by a commitment to creating meaningful change in the rural industry.

Advancing Dairy Beef: DNA Insights, Bull Selection & Future Opportunities

Ben Watson
General Manager and
Co-founder of GENEZ

Ben is the General Manager and Co-founder of GENEZ, New Zealand's fastest-growing genetics company, established in 2023. GENEZ specialises in supplying elite beef semen tailored specifically for the dairy industry, promoting traceability to enhance profitability across the supply chain and support future premium programs.

In addition to his role at GENEZ, Ben is an active dairy farmer, overseeing three properties across the Waikato and King Country as part of his family-owned equity partnership. Through their elite dairy herd at Stony Creek, his family also supplies top-tier dairy genetics to the industry.

Tom Hargreaves
Kakahu Angus

Tom and Anna Hargreaves and his family at Kakahu Farm, have been breeding Angus and Charolais cattle since 1952. The genetics they provide to the dairy industry have had a large impact on beef and dairy beef performance having had several elite performers in the Dairy Beef Progeny test and will continue to do so with extensive attention to detail in performance genetics from around the world.

Dr Jason Archer
Beef & Lamb NZ

Dr Jason Archer joined the B+LNZ Genetics team in June 2021 as the Genetics Specialist – Livestock. Prior to joining B+LNZ Genetics, Jason, who has an Agricultural Science degree and a PhD in animal breeding and genetics, worked as a consultant with AbacusBio. He had previously worked with AgResearch for 12 years. His role will involve providing direction to both sheep and beef programmes, delivering a key link between the science, data strategy and practical application of genetics across the industry.

Wednesday 9 April 2025

Mastering Mastitis: A Farmer-Driven Approach to Dairy Health & Performance

Holly & Aaron Jackson 
Sharemilkers

Holly and Aaron are 50/50 sharemilkers in Culverden, North Canterbury. They have been here for 12 years and have three children, Tom, George and Zoe. Neither Aaron or Holly were born into the rural life, but after carrying out other careers they thought the Dairy Industry was really exciting and progressive – something they wanted to be part of. Aaron did one year of dairy farming straight out of school but then went shepherding. After a few years, his love of fixing, welding, and building things got the better of him and he became a maintenance engineer. Holly studied Science and PE at Otago University and the University of British Colombia before training as a Secondary Teacher at Canterbury University.

Through owning their own herd, they have become highly motivated to produce top quality milk from the healthiest cows. They have won the Milk Quality Award for their region four times running, and sit in the top 15 overall Fonterra farms. They are grateful for the opportunities people in the industry have given them, and would love to give some time back.They love connecting with others and feel passionate about farmers being empowered.

Natasha Maguire
Chief Scientific Officer
Farm Medix

Elevate Your Financial Performance

Terry Kilday
Farm Owner

Terry has made a career working in and on the business of dairy farming in irrigated Canterbury for 25 years and is currently the General Manager for the Camden Group. Terry enjoys the challenge farming puts in front of people and teams every day, as well as looking forward to improving farming systems for people, animals and the environment. In recent years Terry and the Camden Group have been looking at options to reduce N loss from the farm system that align with the overall goals of the farm business.

Eldon and Roseanne Megaw
Contract Milkers

Eldon and Roseanne Megaw, parents to Beau (10) and Reid (7) contract milk two farms near Rangitata, milking a total of 1600 cows.

They both grew up on dairy farms but pursued other careers in their early 20s (Eldon building and Roseanne teaching) before heading back to the dairy industry where Eldon progressed from Farm Assistant through to contract milking over a 5 year period. They have been contract milking for 8 years now and this past year have had the opportunity to enter an equity partnership.

They have built a diversified portfolio outside of dairy including property, managed funds crypto etc and enjoy helping others see where they can increase their wealth both inside and outside of the farm gate.

Dairy advancement through science and technology

Keith Cameron
Lincoln University

Keith Cameron is Emeritus Professor of Soil Science at Lincoln University. Keith helped to establish the SIDE event, the SIDDC partnership, and the Lincoln University Dairy Farm over 20 years ago. His research work is designed to help dairy farmers meet the greenhouse gas emissions challenges and the water quality challenges that we face. Along with his colleague Prof Hong Di, he has worked with Ravensdown Ltd and MPI to develop ‘EcoPond’ effluent treatment technology to help farmers reduce on-farm methane emissions.

Jeremy Bryant
Aimer

Roshean Woods
Senior Scientist
DairyNZ

Roshean has over ten years’ research experience. With skills and expertise in soil and plant science, her research on nitrate leaching is highly relevant to nutrient management and is frequently cited for its insights into plantain’s ability to reduce nitrate leaching losses.

Over the years, Roshean has been an active participant in agricultural community groups such as Young Farmers and NZIPIM, which have allowed her to connect with a wide range of agricultural professionals. In 2022, she was awarded the Service to Young Farmers Award, and in 2021 she was a national finalist in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year. Roshean completed her PhD at Lincoln University in 2017. She then worked as a farm environment consultant for two and a half years before joining the team at DairyNZ in 2019.

Racheal Bryant
Associate Professor
Lincoln University

Ajmal Khan
Senior Scientist Animal Nutrition and Physiology, 
AgResearch Limited

Dr. Khan is an established leader in calf and dairy cattle nutrition. Dr. Khan has 20 years of international experience working with diverse dairy systems in Pakistan, South Korea, Canada, and New Zealand. He has led research teams and managed projects focused on improving animal welfare and the performance of dairy cattle and calves for different farming systems. He has led research on early life nutrition, including the development of the digestive tract, and delivered lifetime studies with dairy cattle. His work includes 98 peer-reviewed papers, 60 conference abstracts, and multiple outreach articles for farmers. 

Max Thompson
Investment Manager
AgriZeroNZ

Max is an Investment Manager with AgriZeroNZ and brings a decade of experience in venture capital, technology commercialization and innovation. Max is passionate about supporting visionary teams tackling global challenges to deliver real-world impact. His work at AgriZeroNZ combines his science and business experience to help accelerate access to emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.