Professor KL (Jock) Macmillan

Jock Macmillan has conducted research wide ranging research on the reproductive performance of dairy cattle, mostly in New Zealand, but also in Australia and the USA. He defined the management differences between year-round calving patterns and seasonal ones; commercialised the development of tailpainting; and developed the CIDR insert, in particular its use for treating anoestrus. He was a Research Officer with the NZ Dairy Board from 1967 to 1977 before transferring to Ruakura, first with MAFFTech until 1988 and then with the DRC until 1997. He has been the Dairy Australia Professor at the University of Melbourne since 1997.

He was awarded the CP McMeekan Memorial Award (1983), the International Dairy Production Award by the American Dairy Science Association (1991), Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (1995), Life Membership of the NZ Large Herds Association (1997), Honorary DSc by Massey University (2003) and Life Membership of the NZ Society of Animal Production (2004). He held a Fulbright-Hayes Research Fellowship at the University of Florida in 1987/88.

The ISI Web has classified him as ranking in the leading 1% of the World’s animal scientists for the last 10 years based on his record of scientific publications and the frequency with which they are cited by other scientists. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Animal Reproduction Science that is currently ranked second out of 45 research journals related to dairy, veterinary and animal sciences. By contrast, he also writes regularly for dairy industry publications and had his own column in the Dairy Exporter (Breeding Briefs) for 25 years. Thirty postgraduate students have conducted their research under his supervision.

Shelagh Bragg

Shelagh first attended a Large Herds Conference in 1981 and has been a regular delegate since, missing only three conferences over the years.

The 1990 conference in Tauranga saw Shelagh take on the position of Secretary of the Bay of Plenty Organising Committee. As well, a recently converted dairy farm owned by Earle and Shelagh was one of two featured as focus farms for that conference.

In 1991 a decision was made to form an Executive Committee to oversee the legal obligations of the Association, to manage surplus funds and to help organising committees with staging conferences. Shelagh was appointed as Secretary of the Executive and held that appointment until her retirement in March 2009, during which time she was a major driving force behind the success of the annual conference.

In 1996 the Executive Committee also appointed Shelagh as their Sponsorship and Conference Co-ordinator, adding to her role as Secretary/Treasurer. This position was to create continuity from year to year for our sponsors and to help organising committees with their planning and progress.

In 2000, the first International Large Herds Conference was staged in Christchurch where Shelagh had responsibility as Conference Secretary plus Conference and Sponsorship Co-ordinator, a role she repeated at a second International Conference in 2005. Shelagh also represented the NZLHA on several agricultural based committees.

Shelagh has also been involved in Large Herd conferences in Australia and in South Africa where she was made a Life Member of the South African Large Herds Conference in 2003.

We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join our executive committee.

The executive is responsible for governance of the annual conference, providing guidance and mentoring to the local organising committee and setting the association strategy.

Those who express an interest in joining the committee will be invited to submit a one page profile outlining their personal background and experience in the dairy industry, and the skills and abilities they would bring to the role.

In return we offer the opportunity to broaden your skill base, and give back to our dairy industry.

To discuss this opportunity in more detail, please contact our Chairman Bryan Beeston on 027 478 9006 or any one of our committee members as listed on our contact page.

Membership of NZLHA is open to all dairy farmers.

A membership fee of $10 /person is payable and may be posted to the NZLHA Secretary.

NZLHA run a competition for young dairy scientists.

The emphasis for this competition is on COMMUNICATION. Research plays a critical role in driving the NZ Dairy industry forward, however scientists are often criticised for not communicating the results of their research to herd owners in a readily understandable and usable form.