New Zealand unveils research programme

A NZ$170 million (EUR93.6m) research programme has been created for the dairy industry in New Zealand, with industry trade body DairyNZ and Fonterra in partnership. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle says, “This major investment will create the biggest change in decades in research, training, and knowledge transfer to increase the rate of innovation on both sides of the farm gate, all of which can be leveraged to benefit New Zealand’s wider primary industry.”

DairyNZ is contributing $29 million and Fonterra $47 million to the seven-year programme. It includes new research and training to boost on-farm productivity and sustainability, as well as post-farm gate research in the areas of nutrition, food structure and manufacturing and supply chain processes. A further $9 million is being contributed by the other PGP industry partners: Synlait, Landcorp, LIC, Young Farmers, Agricultural Services Limited and ZESPRI.

“Further innovation on both sides of the farm gate will place the New Zealand dairy industry and Fonterra in a strong position to meet the evolving needs of customers. Today, consumers are always seeking foods that are safer, tastier, more convenient, natural, healthy, good value and produced in more sustainable ways,” Fonterra chief technology officer Jeremy Hill notes.

As well as new research to boost on-farm productivity and reduce the environmental footprint of dairying, the on-farm component includes a range of new training, networking and professional development activities designed to boost the level of professionalism across the industry. Research will include the use of new genomic tools to identify genes that boost production, while reducing emissions and waste. Key genetic markers for fertility, lameness and mastitis will also be targeted.

A key priority is to better understand food structures which will lead to the design of new foods to meet future consumer requirements, while research to improve processes in manufacturing and the supply chain make up the balance. “This research will help us take our dairy ingredients into more formats, to more customers and more markets,” Dr Hill says.