Willie McKnight

Willie says he’s part of a team that offers a vast amount of experience in different areas of dairy farming and its challenges, often calling on each others’ strengths.

“I focus my role on keeping farmers in my region informed, so they can make good decisions around how to farm profitably and sustainably, while factoring in their own values and principles and beliefs.

“I carry out on-farm visits and facilitate events. I bring information to farmers and offer support around their farm system while bringing fresh ideas to their business. I’m very much about networking and have good relationships with others in the sector and organisations.

“I enjoy being involved with farmers and their systems as high-performing businesses, being visible in the community at schools’ agriculture days, and teaching younger generations, to spark their interest in the dairy sector and in farming in general.”

Willie worked his way through the dairy sector from assistant to herd ownership. He and his wife now own a drystock dairy support block in Te Miro near Cambridge, run by dairy grazers, and manage a 200ha dairy heifer unit for 10 years. Willie’s also tutored and mentored up-and-coming dairy farmers for Dairy Training Limited, been a tutor and practical trainer for Wintec’s rural Animal Tech course, and worked as an agricultural contractor, prepping, planting and spraying crops.

“What really excites me is the personal connection. I remember helping a young farming couple to develop their business with benchmarking in DairyBase. They learned new skills, came out of their shells and entered the NZ Dairy Industry Awards. Now they regularly attend DairyNZ events. That really made my heart full.”

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