Sarah Brown

Sarah’s focused on understanding how on-farm changes affect financial performance. She finds her role really rewarding, especially when financial discussions lead to bigger conversations.

“I look at what drives profitability, and provide budgeting and business advice, both to farmers and to people within our organisation,” explains Sarah. “On the practical side, I help run on-farm events that focus on financial outcomes and offer business-focused technical support where it's needed. My role is also about building strong relationships and making sure that what we deliver is useful.”

Sarah has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree from Massey University. She comes from a rural banking background, and she and her partner Jake now run her family’s farming operation as sharemilkers. In her DairyNZ role, Sarah sees herself as someone who helps bring practical knowledge and ideas to life for dairy farmers.

“Really, it’s the farmers though who lead projects, so we provide them with the support they need to improve their farm systems, business performance, and daily practices,” says Sarah. “My part in that is to work alongside others – farmers, industry, and partners – to design useful tools, services, or resources that supports on-farm change.”

Working with farmers and also DairyNZ’s science team helps ensure the advice and tools DairyNZ offers are practical and based on solid evidence, too, adds Sarah. “Plus, having farmers be a part of the process allows us to create solutions that are fit for purpose.”

As for the bigger conversations, Sarah says that what starts as a budgeting session, can end up helping farmers make decisions that impact their whole business, through opening up other topics like succession, future goals, and wellbeing.

“Seeing research and ideas turn into practical solutions farmers can use on-farm is something I get a lot of satisfaction from - as well as making sure farmers, science and business stay connected. With DairyNZ’s support, tools, and resources, we aim to support farmers in building capability, and improving their farm’s performance, profitability, and sustainability."

• Find out more about DairyNZ’s other specialist team members.
• Check out our research team and our regional teams.