DairyNZ

What DairyNZ does

DairyNZ is the statutory industry-good organisation representing New Zealand's dairy farmers, established in 2005 and operating from Tirau with a postal address in Hamilton. The organisation is funded primarily by a compulsory milksolids levy collected under the Commodity Levies (Milksolids) Order 2020 and remitted via processors including Fonterra, Synlait, and Open Country Dairy; in 2024/25 it invested approximately NZD 62 million on behalf of farmers into research, development, and extension programmes. It operates under a group structure spanning DairyNZ Limited, DairyNZ Inc, and the related New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL), with Dairy Training Limited as a wholly owned training subsidiary.

Its core product and technology stack centres on dairynz.co.nz, which hosts more than 850 tools and resources covering animal health, breeding, feed, milking, environment, business, and people management. Flagship platforms include the NZAEL animal evaluation system with the Ranking of Active Sires, Bull Search Tool, and Bull Team Builder; DairyBase for physical and financial benchmarking; the DairyNZ Econ Tracker for real-time sector economics; the Body Condition Scoring (BCS) Tracker app; and the recently launched DAiSY AI conversational assistant. Research infrastructure spans the Extended Lactation Study, Emissions4Pasture (a joint New Zealand-Ireland methane research programme), and the Resilient Pastures Programme, supported by demonstration assets such as the Southern Dairy Hub.

DairyNZ serves all NZ dairy farmers as its primary segment, with no revenue exposure to individual commercial farmers given the mandatory levy model. Go-to-market is a hybrid of self-serve digital distribution (website, mobile apps, AI chatbot, podcasts, the Inside Dairy publication) and direct field engagement via regional teams, discussion groups, workshops such as CalvingSmart and Mark and Measure, and on-farm demonstration events. The organisation provides industry-good advocacy on policy and regulation in addition to its science and extension remit.

Name

DairyNZ

Legal name

DairyNZ Limited

Website

https://www.dairynz.co.nz

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

DairyNZ is the statutory industry-good organisation for New Zealand dairy farmers, funded by a mandatory milksolids levy and providing independent science, digital tools (DairyBase, NZAEL genetics tools, DAiSY AI), training, and on-farm extension services to the sector.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Extension Services

NAICS

Dairy Cattle and Milk Production (11212)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Dairy Farm Data, Monitoring & Precision Dairy Operations (AFAEACAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pasture-Based & Grazing Dairy Systems (AFAEACAI), Dairy Farm Environmental Compliance & Sustainability Programs (AFAEACAM)

Keywords

• Dairy farming support
• Animal evaluation services
• Farm business benchmarking
• Dairy industry research
• Milksolids levy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commodity Levy (Milksolids): DairyNZ is primarily funded through a milksolids levy collected from dairy farmers under the Commodity Levies (Milksolids) Order 2020. The levy is collected by dairy processors (such as Fonterra, Synlait, and Open Country Dairy) on behalf of DairyNZ. In 2024/25, DairyNZ invested approximately $62 million on behalf of farmers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DairyNZ is the industry-good organization representing New Zealand dairy farmers, funded through a milksolids levy. It delivers independent science-backed research, digital tools (DairyBase, Bull Search, RAS, Econ Tracker, DAiSY AI assistant), training courses, publications, and on-farm extension services to support dairy farm productivity, profitability, environmental compliance, animal breeding, feed management, and workforce development.

Product overview

DairyNZ provides a comprehensive portfolio of products and services for New Zealand dairy farmers, centered around its online platform dairynz.co.nz. The core offerings include DAiSY (an AI-powered information assistant), DairyBase (farm business performance tracking and benchmarking), and the Bull Search Tool/Ranking of Active Sires (animal breeding and genetics tools). The portfolio spans seasonal campaign programs (Winter Smarts, Summer Smarts, Autumn Smarts, Spring Smarts), financial and operational calculators (feed budgets, supplement pricing, milking time planner, BCS tracker), publications (Inside Dairy magazine, economic surveys, dairy statistics), training courses (Mark and Measure, CalvingSmart), and research initiatives (extended lactation studies, methane emissions research, resilient pastures). With over 850 tools and resources available, the platform supports farmers across animal management, environment, feed, milking, business, and people/HR needs. The organization also facilitates farmer events and provides policy advocacy on behalf of the dairy sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DAiSY: DAiSY is an AI-powered tool available on the DairyNZ website to help users browse the site and access information hosted on the website. The star drop logo is a trademark of DairyNZ Limited.
• DairyBase
• Inside Dairy

Products and services

• DAiSY An AI-powered assistant on the DairyNZ website that helps users find trusted information quickly by retrieving and synthesizing content from DairyNZ's resources and tools. Provides text-based responses to user queries about DairyNZ resources.
• DairyBase An online farm business management tool enabling dairy farmers to track and analyze physical and financial performance, benchmark results, and access economic data for confident decision-making.
• Bull Search Tool An independent bull selection tool enabling farmers to evaluate and compare bulls using the latest pedigree and performance data from various breeding companies to maximize genetic potential.
• Ranking of Active Sires (RAS) A list of New Zealand's top proven bulls based on breeding values, helping farmers identify high-merit sires for their breeding programmes.
• Bull Team Builder A tool for building and managing tailored bull teams, enabling farmers to construct teams of selected bulls for their breeding goals.
• DairyNZ Econ Tracker An online tool providing real-time economic information relevant to the New Zealand dairy sector.
• Feed Budget Calculators Various calculators including Simple Feed Budget, Simple Feed Budget with Body Condition Score, Monthly Feed Budget, and Annual Feed Budget for planning and managing feed requirements.
• Supplement Price Calculator A calculator enabling farmers to determine the maximum price they can pay for supplementary feed while maintaining profitability.
• Body Condition Scoring App (BCS Tracker) A mobile app for tracking and assessing cow body condition scores to support herd management decisions.
• Milking Time Planner A planning tool to help farmers evaluate different milking intervals and schedules and their effects on weekly routines and milk production.
• Dairy Effluent Storage Calculator (DESC) A calculator for determining dairy effluent storage requirements to ensure compliance and proper effluent management.
• Workplace360 A workplace assessment tool for building and evaluating team capability and performance.
• Mark and Measure Course A training course offering tools and approaches to create wealth, set aligned goals, and analyze farm business performance.
• CalvingSmart A workshop providing calving management training and best practices for dairy farmers.
• Talking Dairy Podcast DairyNZ's podcast series featuring interviews and discussions on dairy farming topics, leadership, and industry insights.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced soil and phosphorus losses by up to 90% through directional grazing practices
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Beef + Lamb New ZealandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand launched the Dairy Beef Profit Partnership pilot to help dairy farmers find value for non-replacement calves through dairy-beef breeding collaborations. The pilot demonstrates dairy-beef breeding techniques and builds stronger supply chain partnerships between dairy farmers, calf rearers, and beef finishers.
• Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC)coreTechnology or IntegrationLIC is a research partner and dairy industry stakeholder from whom DairyNZ collects personal information. LIC provides genetic improvement services including semen and breeding data that integrates with DairyNZ's animal evaluation systems.
• CRVcoreTechnology or IntegrationCRV is a research partner and dairy industry stakeholder. CRV provides genetic improvement services and breeding data that integrates with DairyNZ's animal evaluation systems.
• Irish ResearcherscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research programme with Irish researchers to quantify methane emissions from dairy cows in pasture-based systems, aiming to develop more precise emission factors and mitigation strategies.
• Southern Dairy HubcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch facility where studies on winter grazing practices and environmental management are conducted, providing data that informs DairyNZ recommendations.
• Dairy Training LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubsidiary company of DairyNZ that runs courses and collects academic information including contact details, citizenship, disabilities and education history for training purposes.
• New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelated company that operates the animal evaluation system providing independent genetic evaluations for dairy cattle in New Zealand.
• Owl FarmminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDemo farm that hosted a field day demonstrating dairy-beef breeding techniques as part of the Dairy Beef Profit Partnership pilot.
• Puketotara StationminorOthersBeef finisher operation participating in dairy-beef comparative trials as part of the Dairy Beef Profit Partnership pilot.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC): NZ farmer-owned cooperative providing genetics, herd testing, and farm software; overlaps with DairyNZ's NZAEL/DairyBase offerings as a commercial competitor while also being a research partner.
• CRV: International dairy genetics cooperative operating in NZ and other markets; competes in the same genetic-evaluation and breeding-data space as DairyNZ's NZAEL tools.

Others

• Zoetis: Global animal-health company and DairyNZ research partner; adjacent supplier in the dairy value chain rather than a direct services competitor.

Emerging players

• AgriWebb: Agri-tech platform providing farm record-keeping and benchmarking; competes with DairyBase as a private alternative for farm data capture and analysis.
• Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF): Irish industry-good body providing a national cattle breeding database and genetic evaluations — closely analogous technology and mandate to NZAEL, though smaller scale.

Broad incumbents

• Fonterra Cooperative Group: NZ's largest dairy processor and historic R&D funder; collects the milksolids levy on DairyNZ's behalf, making it the most important commercial counterpart rather than a direct competitor.
• Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) New Zealand: NZ government agency that partners with and partially funds DairyNZ's R&D; broader agricultural policy and biosecurity scope makes it adjacent rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB): UK statutory levy body that funds R&D, knowledge exchange, and data services across agricultural sectors including dairy; directly comparable in mandate, funding mechanism, and service mix.
• Beef + Lamb New Zealand: NZ industry-good organization funded by commodity levies on beef and sheep farmers; mirrors DairyNZ's levy-funded structure, advocacy role, and R&D mandate.
• Dairy Australia: Australian dairy industry-good organization similarly funded by farmer levies that delivers R&D, extension, and policy advocacy to Australian dairy farmers — the closest functional analog to DairyNZ.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dairynz
• Facebookfacebook.com/DairyNZ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dairynz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DairyNZ