Episode 72 - Key innovations driving New Zealand’s dairy industry

In this episode, Anne Lee and Sheryl Haitana reflect on the innovation, resilience and spirit that have shaped New Zealand’s dairy industry. From breakthroughs like the herringbone shed to the rise of virtual fencing, they explore how grassroots ingenuity and trusted rural media have driven on farm progress. 

FMG’s Chief Marketing Officer, Pete Frizzell, marks 120 years of the mutual insurer, sharing how FMG has supported rural communities through risk, reinvestment and long-term commitment to farmer wellbeing.

Buy the Dairy Exporter 100 Year Collector’s Edition 2025 here

 

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, Dairy Exporter

Guest:

1. Pete Frizzell, Chief Marketing Officer, FMG

Anne Lee reflects on the technological breakthroughs and grassroots ingenuity that have defined New Zealand’s dairy industry over the past century. Drawing on stories from the Dairy Exporter Centenary magazine, she traces how innovations like the walk-through shed, herringbone, and rotary transformed milking from a labour-intensive chore to a high-output system driven by efficiency and scale.

Anne highlights the pivotal role Kiwi farmers and researchers played in inventing and refining technologies such as pulsators, milk powder dryers, and electric fencing, game changers that shaped New Zealand’s global dairy reputation. She discusses how early farmer-driven innovation was closely tied to the rise of co-ops and how the Dairy Exporter magazine became a trusted vehicle for sharing knowledge, shaping belief, and enabling progress long before digital communication.

With a nod to the past and an eye to the future, Anne explores the rise of robotics and virtual fencing, questioning what the next generation of game-changing ideas might be. She reflects on the importance of staying connected—through field days, trusted publications, and peer-to-peer learning—as farmers navigate a rapidly evolving world.

 

Sheryl Haitana reflects on the remarkable progress of New Zealand’s dairy industry, from walk-through cow sheds and hand-forked silage to today’s high-tech, high-efficiency systems. In this conversation, she shares personal memories and stories that bring to life the scale of change across generations, including her own family’s recollections of early herringbone sheds and the field days that introduced them.

Sheryl highlights the practical challenges farmers once faced and how innovations, like Ronald Sharp’s herringbone design and the first electric fence energisers, unlocked productivity and reshaped what was possible on farm. She explores how Kiwi inventiveness, often born out of necessity, laid the foundation for today’s technologies, and how New Zealand farmers consistently led global advances in milking systems and land development.

She also reflects on the role of the Dairy Exporter magazine as a lifeline of trusted information, especially in times when farmers relied on print to connect, trade livestock, and adopt new ideas. As new technologies like virtual fencing and robotics emerge, Sheryl underscores the importance of staying curious, informed, and connected, while honouring the legacy of those who built the industry from the ground up.

 

FMG’s Chief Marketing Officer Pete Frizzell reflects on 120 years of helping rural New Zealanders manage risk, tracing the co-operative insurer’s origins to a group of Otago farmers fed up with overpriced premiums from overseas. He explains how FMG was founded on mutuality, a model still central to its operations today, allowing farmers to collectively own the business, keep premiums affordable, and reinvest profits into rural communities instead of shareholders.

Pete unpacks the advantages of FMG’s long-term focus, from backing Farmstrong and melanoma awareness initiatives to innovating with new products like forestry and orchard insurance, and exploring emerging models such as parametric cover. He highlights how the 1978 consolidation of regional mutuals gave FMG national scale and a broader client base, ultimately lowering insurance costs and strengthening the resilience of rural businesses.

Reflecting on challenges like Cyclone Gabrielle, Pete shares FMG’s philosophy of being there when it matters most, staying agile in crisis, investing in people, and upholding strong relationships in an increasingly digital world. Looking ahead, he’s focused on balancing sustainability, regulation, and relevance while remaining true to the co-op’s founding purpose of building strong, prosperous rural communities for generations to come.