Alice Grave

Seeing farmers achieve their goals and connecting them with others in the sector are two elements Alice is loving in her role at DairyNZ.

“Our team delivers DairyNZ’s science and strategy to farmers and helps them to get the most out of their levy. We also bring farmers together to overcome any challenges they’re facing and help to improve their farm’s productivity.

“That includes regularly meeting with farmers and other rural professionals, to hear what farmers are saying, find out what they need and see how they’re interacting with other sector organisations. Plus we not only connect farmers with each other, we link them up with experts, including DairyNZ scientists.”

Alice also likes to encourage dairy farmers contribute to and make the most of the tools DairyNZ has to offer.

“For example, having more farmers joining DairyBase helps increase and improve its benchmarking data for everyone. It also enables us to make things like DairyNZ’s Pasture Potential tool become more relevant and accurate for farmers to use when comparing Pasture Eaten and Crop Eaten values with similar farms in their area.”

Alice was an Auckland urbanite before she discovered dairying through family friends in Methven, Canterbury. Fast forward a few years and a Bachelor of Science (majoring in Animal Science) later, she’s dairying in South Canterbury and hasn’t looked back.

Skiing, boating and marathon running are other activities Alice enjoys, but she also loves nothing more than seeing farmers striving to farm with a high level of efficiency. “The kind who want to do the best for their cows and see them performing at their best.”

• Find out more about DairyNZ’s other Upper South Island regional team members.
• Check out our nationwide regional teams.