Brigitte Meier

Brigitte’s ‘shouting from the sidelines’ about how well our dairy farmers are doing at balancing people, profitability and sustainability across their complex businesses.

Dairy farmer Brigitte says her leadership for her team is about supporting them to do what they do best: connecting and working with farmers to provide value from DairyNZ’s levy.

“Dairying these days has many moving parts, so farmers need ongoing support to help them stay on top of their game. They also need to have a depth of technical knowledge, tenacity, perseverance, a strong work ethic and a willingness to learn and adapt.

“That’s why I like ‘shouting – or supporting – from the sidelines’, because farmers tend to downplay their amazing efforts and what they achieve in our challenging and rewarding sector.”

Brigitte says most of the people in her team are also current or ex-dairy farmers.

“We can help farmers because we ‘get it’, providing a sounding board, perspective, and insights through benchmarking. We can show farmers new tools, and help them reframe their issues or challenges so they can stay ahead of the pack.

“We also work with rural professionals, which allows us to share information, resources and tools to make sure that the advice farmers get is aligned and consistent, fit for purpose, and grounded in scientific truth.

“My motivation really comes from my team – they inspire me with their enthusiasm and commitment to do the best for our farmers.”

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