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Kirsty Verhoek, DairyNZ
DairyNZ's Kirsty Verhoek ‘walks the talk’, balancing her interests in animal welfare, agricultural science and innovative dairy farming.
Kirsty and her husband Nic are 50/50 sharemilkers just north of Morrinsville in the Waikato region. With a PhD in ruminant nutrition, Kirsty has a passion for dairy farming, because of the variety and because “there’s not just one way” to run a successful dairy operation.
As 50/50 sharemilkers, Kirsty and Nic don’t own the land they farm but are responsible for operating it on behalf of the owner. Their arrangement involves sharing both the costs and profits with the farm owner.
This means that Kirsty and Nic own and manage around 750 dairy cows. Alongside the dairy operation, they also lease a 120-hectare block where they rear beef cattle and graze young stock.
Kirsty is a senior science manager at DairyNZ near Hamilton and a mother of three young kids. She has a research background in ruminant nutrition and methane emissions and has recently expanded her areas of interest to include animal wellbeing and cow comfort (in particular, mitigating thermal – or heat – stress).
Wearable cow devices such as collars, tags, and rumen sensors – think Fitbit or Gamin watches in the human context – play a role in informing both her and Nic’s farm management, as well as research.
While these devices are just one aspect of farming, the technology provides valuable insights that help guide decision-making and contribute to her research into more sustainable and efficient farming practices.
With farms producing more data than ever, the challenge lies in figuring out how to harness it effectively and unlock its full potential. Kirsty has recently been involved in research alongside DairyNZ partners, AgResearch, and Fonterra through the New Zealand Bioeconomy in a Digital Age (NZBIDA) programme.
This research focussed on how farmers can leverage digital technologies and data to improve farm management and enhance animal care, providing practical insights into the future of farming in a more connected and data-driven world.
Throughout her research career Kirsty has contributed to projects both nationally and internationally that aim at enhancing ruminant production efficiency and sustainability.
In the future, she aims is to continue to publish research that has been through a robust process, so it can be used by others to continue moving science forward and towards solutions and tools that help farmers make solid decisions on farm.
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