Our team

Manager

Hamish Hodgson

Having worked both on-farm and in a range of industry leadership roles, Hamish has a great understanding of the exciting opportunities available in our dairy sector.

Hamish grew up on dairy farms in Whangarei and Taumarunui, and later managed the family farm. He came to DairyNZ in 2014 and has since project managed DairyNZ’s M. bovis response, implemented the valuable DBCAT initiative (helping farmers with their M. bovis compensation claims), and been involved in adverse events management and research. Most recently, Hamish has worked across DairyNZ’s COVID-19 response.

Based in Lincoln with his wife Lydia, Hamish is keen to explore Dairy Training opportunities with farmers and rural professionals both in the South Island and nationwide.

Operations Manager

Jenny Sinclair

Jenny’s passion is for helping others to learn and progress within the dairy industry. She started with Dairy Training as a tutor in 2002 and is now operations manager.

Jenny grew up on a dairy farm and loved the freedom and adventure that rural life offered.

Her original career was in teaching before she went dairy farming with her husband and made the most of the opportunities and support offered by the industry.

Training coordinator

Laura Littlejohn

Laura comes from a rural banking background and is very proficient at managing the logistics of all course timetabling, assessing venue suitability, and the printing and distributing of learner and teaching resources.

Laura also coordinates tutors training days, tutor conference, regional tutorials and study nights. She works closely with the PrimaryITO field team and Wintec administration staff, as well as managing all student details in the Dairy Training’s learner management system.

Administrator

Kerri Blackburn

Returning from 12 years overseas, Kerri recently joined Dairy Training as an administrator.

Kerri coordinates tutor training days, tutor conference, regional tutorials, and study nights. She works closely with the PrimaryITO field team and Wintec administration staff, as well as managing all student details in Dairy Training’s student management system.

Her many and varied experiences are from an international perspective. Kerri enjoys the challenge that working with Dairy Training provides.

Ann Snowdon

Ann and her husband Brad are currently equity partners on a dairy farm between Rotorua and Taupo, milking 420 cows.  Ann has a bachelor degree in business studies, and after living and working overseas for a number of years she moved home to NZ, met and married her husband, moved to the farm and now has 2 children and enjoys the farming life.

Ann loves the fact she can use her business background and hands-on experience to help others in the dairy sector, tutoring and coaching modules in the Agribusiness Diploma.  Ann is passionate about helping others get ahead in this volatile industry.  Creating a sustainable, profitable business model is essential to anyone wanting to get ahead in and Dairy Training courses and templates offer a valuable toolkit. Ann loves the variety this role offers – no two businesses are the same, and she enjoys working with farmers at all stages of their business life cycle – from those starting out in their farming businesses, to helping fill the gaps for those who have more experience.

April Birchall

April grew up in a city in the United Kingdom, and it wasn’t until she moved across the world and into vet school that she discovered a love of dairy farming. After graduating in 2010, she moved to work as a dairy vet in the Bay of Plenty, which has become her home. She is married to a dairy farmer and they have been farming together since 2018.

April joined Dairy Training in June 2021, teaching Level 3, while still working part-time as a vet and farm consultant.

Currently completing her Diploma in Agribusiness Management, April hopes to own a small dairy herd in the not-too-distant future. In her spare time, April enjoys riding and caring for her five horses, as well as competing in dressage and eventing.

Briar Yarrall

Briar grew up on a sheep and beef farm in the Hawkes Bay. After leaving school, she worked and trained as a kindergarten teacher. She and her husband went dairy farming in 2003, and have a farm in Hawkes Bay, Waikato. Eight years ago, they settled in Taranaki, where they contract milk 800 cows and have an equity partnership on a 200-cow farm.

Briar completed the Agri-business Diploma in 2019, and Production Management in 2020.

Briar is passionate about the dairy industry and believes that education plays a vital role both on and off-farm in upskilling people starting from the ground up. Briar is continually learning new things and thinks this is really important. She believes the more that we can teach and learn by tutoring others, the better for the industry as a whole.

Bronwyn Cameron

Bronwyn has been tutoring the Human Resource module of the NZ Diploma in Agribusiness Management since 2013, and really enjoys creating the discussions and learnings in the trainee group environment. She is an independent HR consultant working across the Waikato region, with a background in HR management.

Bronwyn loves the rural environment – farming is in her blood! She also fits in some help with driving tractors / operating machinery for her agricultural contractor friend in the hay / silage season.

Crofton Hamilton

Raised in South Auckland, Crofton was educated at Massey University. Since then (25 years), he has managed and owned two farms with over 500 cows.

Crofton is focussed on industry improvement and imparts his knowledge tutoring levels 3, 4 and 5.

Donovan Croot

Born in Marton and raised in Auckland city, farming didn’t seem like a career choice for Donovan growing up. However, being forced to start a new life in his early twenties sparked a journey that opened opportunities for a dairy farming career and passion.

Donovan escaped the bright lights of Auckland in late-2008 and ventured down to Skeet Road (The Golden Mile) in remote South Taranaki. He started as a farm assistant and has progressed through to owning an exceptional herd and HOSM 200 cows in Manutahi, South Taranaki.

Early in his dairying career, Donovan realised he needed to ‘up his game’ by having all the relevant qualifications to fast track his progress. His journey started at Level 1 with AgITO, and after approximately six years’ training and working full time, Donovan achieved his Agribusiness Diploma.

Donovan feels very humbled by the opportunities and life the dairy industry has provided for him and his young family. He would love to help others achieve their goals and aspirations.

Donovan says the future of agriculture in New Zealand is exciting ad there has never been a better time to be a farmer.

Ed Grayling

Ed progressed from a farm assistant through to farm ownership in ten years, and now has been an owner-operator in the Waikato since 2014. Ed has a Bachelor of Applied Science and has spent time as an agronomist in the maize grain industry, bringing wider industry knowledge and networks to his classes.

Ed teaches Level 3 Animal Husbandry where he enjoys helping the next generation of farm staff to upskill and progress within the dairy industry. He is passionate about grass roots farming and wants to share his broad industry knowledge and experiences to help others.

Gaynor Tierney

Gaynor hails from Ireland/UK and has been dairy farming in New Zealand for over 20 years. Strongly involved in the dairy industry through DairyNZ, PrimaryITO, Federated Farmers and Fonterra, being face-to-face with farmers, training rural professionals and on numerous boards, Gaynor has a wealth of experience. Gaynor extends this knowledge by training farmers in the Diploma of Agribusiness.

As a tutor Gaynor is motivated to help farmers help themselves. She enjoys working with amazing people who are self-driven and inspired to undertake learning off-farm to increase their understanding of the business of farming and for many to enhance their careers going forward. She loves the topic of agri-business and has good fun in the class environment whilst working towards positive change for their enterprises.

Hannes Nagel

Hannes grew up on a 23-thousand-hectare sheep and cropping farm in South Africa with 500 dairy cows as a side-line. He joined the military straight from school and after 8 years left to go back to farming.

In 2005, Hannes came to New Zealand and has been managing farms with 300 to 1,000 cows ever since.  He has worked on a DairyNZ dairy farm for the last 7 years.

Hannes wants to share his industry knowledge with young and up-and-coming farmers.

Helen Connole

Helen and her husband have been farming since 2009, moving through the industry up to sharemilking. They have farmed in South Waikato and are currently farming 260 cows back in Taranaki with the help of their four boys.

Having completed the Diploma in Agribusiness in 2012, and Production Management in 2020, Helen is now tutoring Level 4 in Taranaki. She believes education not only provides important farming information but also gives the students invaluable opportunities to get off farm and engage with other like-minded people within the industry.

Jim Henderson

Born of Taranaki farming stock, Jim went dairy farming after schooling and advanced, with wife Cheryl and three children, to farm ownership at Kampongs via the typical sharemilking route. Exiting farming after 40 years and moving to Te Awamutu to be closer to grandchildren allowed Jim the opportunity to branch into a new role tutoring for Dairy Training, which has been his vocation for the past decade [or so].

Julie Morgan

Julie is a Taranaki dairy farmer, born and bred, and owns a 450-cow dairy farm and a 200-cow dairy farm in coastal Taranaki. As well as working on the farm, she has worked for LIC and Agriculture NZ.

She enjoys tutoring and working with her students to upskill and gain new knowledge. Julie teaches Level 3 and 4 Animal Husbandry and Strategic Planning.

Julie has  Diploma in AgriBusiness Management, and an Adult Teaching Certificate.

Linda Evens

Originally hailing from the United Kingdom 30 years ago, Linda has for the last 25 owned, managed and overseen a dairy farm in the Waikato, increasing the platform over time to 1000 cows. Her partner mostly worked off farm.

Linda currently teaches Level 4 courses within the Waikato and King Country and goes above and beyond to support students to be successful in their training. She knows first-hand about coming to the industry with no knowledge or experience, and so how important practical learning is and how development can enhance your future.

Linda Sievwright

Linda and her husband have a 230-cow dairy farm in northern Manawatu. Together they have been working in the dairy industry for over 25 years.

Linda completed the Diploma in AgriBusiness Management and then went on to complete a Bachelor of AgriCommerce Degree in 2019.

Linda tutors all modules of the Diploma. She enjoys getting off farm and meeting people who share a passion for the dairy industry, helping them to improve their knowledge and learn new skills.

Liz Sanders

Liz has been tutoring for nearly 20 years. She oversees Dairy Training’s Level 4 programme and has recently been delivering Level 3 husbandry and feeding.

Having been involved in the New Zealand farming industry for over 20 years, Liz has farmed on some of New Zealand’s smallest and largest farms from the Central Plateau, through to the Bay of Plenty. Her particular passion is for animal health.

She has a National Diploma in Agriculture, and Rural Environmental Protection Degree, both from the United Kingdom.

Mark Speight

Mark comes from a sheep and beef family farming background in Western Southland. He has been involved in the dairy industry for almost 20 years with roles nationally with DairyNZ, Rabobank and now as a dairy tutor for the New Zealand Diploma in Agribusiness Management. He has also worked internationally with dairy development roles in Pakistan, Colombia and currently Sri Lanka.

What drives Mark as a tutor is for students to achieve their goals and increase their knowledge so they can progress ideally within the industry, and run profitable and sustainable businesses.

Pete Morgan

With a Masters in Agricultural Science, a Diploma in Agribusiness and 30 years farming, 20 as a farm owner, Pete is well placed to disseminate his wealth of knowledge to others. Pete teaches the Production Management course and and runs short courses on his South Waikato farm. He sees the training the others as a great way to challenge and energise his own love of farming and the need to continually improve.

Regan Kempson

Regan and her husband have been dairy farming for 20 years and spent some time managing a new conversion in America.

Having achieved the New Zealand Diploma in Agribusiness Management in 2012, Regan is now teaching it in Taranaki where her family now live and farm.

Ron Mulder

Ron is an independent farm consultant working under the Headlands brand, helping farm owners and stakeholders optimise their farming systems.

Before starting his consultancy, Ron held various titles at DeLaval International/Oceania for 13 years specialising in milking system automation, robotics and farm systems. Prior to this he spent 10 years as ruminant nutritionist in South Africa, UK and EU, before immigrating to New Zealand and joining DairyNZ for three years in 2005.

After a successful career helping farmers across the world adopt new technologies, feeding their cows and hybridising their farm systems, Ron is available to support farm businesses in our everchanging farming environment. Modernising infrastructure, succession planning, financial health and compliance are all precursors to optimising whole farming systems for future generations.

Ron enjoys spending his time in the outdoors with family and friends.

Steve Hines

After five years working in town, Steve decided the farming lifestyle was for him. With his wife, they progressed through farm management and the sharemilking pathway, before purchasing their 720 cow farm in Whakamaru in 2002.

Steve brings a myriad of skills to Level 5 Production Management & the Level 4 programmes. He enjoys tutoring and believes it is important to have skilled & motivated people trained to a high standard for managing New Zealand’s dairy farms.

Stuart Burns

Stuart is married with a grown family of four. He and his wife own a 200-cow dairy farm in the hills of the Waikato.

Stuart has been involved in dairy farming most of his life. He originally trained at Massey University and then went on to complete postgraduate studies at Reading University during an eight-year stint in Europe.

He is keen for those who do the work in the industry to also develop their “mental muscle” and teaches a variety of courses to help achieve this.

Willie McKnight

Willie and his family spent 20 years milking cows working up to herd ownership, then sold the herd to buy a small dry stock farm. They won the Waikato Dairy Industry Awards Farm Manager of the Year and came third nationally in 2010. Willie also manages a dairy grazing block and works as a contractor in the busy periods. He also manages a 200ha dairy grazing farm 6km from home.

Willie teaches both Level 3 Husbandry and Feeding as well as Level 4. He loves sharing his passion for farming, knowledge of growing grass, animal husbandry skills and seeing students succeed and move up through the industry.