KEY FACTS
Programme duration: 2019 to 2026
MPI funding: $10,133,569
Industry funding: $15,200,355
Commercial partners: LIC, DairyNZ
Background to the programme
Resilient Dairy started in June 2019 and was a 7-year programme. It aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of the national dairy herd.
The programme focused on 2 core areas:
- animal health and wellbeing through disease management technologies
- competitive breeding through genomic enhancements.
The challenge
For New Zealand to maintain its reputation as a world-leading producer of premium products, we need to further increase the value of our products in a way that improves sustainability.
The Resilient Dairy programme aimed to improve animal health and welfare through ensuring that dairy farms have the best cows that:
- are resilient to their environment
- have resilience in their health and wellbeing.
The solution
Resilient Dairy provided farmers with additional animal care information and bred animals better adapted to the external stressors impacting on the animals’ wellbeing.
The research included:
- developing new tests to detect micro-organisms that affect cow health
- developing a range of new health- and welfare-related genomic breeding values
- improving the genomic evaluation models for New Zealand's pastoral dairy herds.
Programme outcomes
- Developed new dairy breeding tools to support animal health, welfare, resilience and productivity, including breeding values for traits such as facial eczema tolerance, mastitis resistance, fertility and liveweight.
- Expanded New Zealand's genomic capability through improved genetic evaluation models, new genomic profiling tools, and stronger genotype and phenotype datasets.
- Advanced research into milk-based technologies for herd health monitoring, disease detection and biosecurity surveillance, creating new datasets, analytical capability, and future screening opportunities.
- Supported progress towards a unified national genomic evaluation system (OneBW), helping improve confidence in genomic selection and future industry-wide genetic improvement.
Resilient Dairy Programme final programme report – June 2026 [PDF, 7.7 MB]
Find out more
Media release: Dairy industry receives boost with $25 million sustainable innovation programme
Resilient Dairy video – YouTube
Programme documents
Resilient Dairy Programme mid-term review – June 2024 [PDF, 11 MB]