Covering a variety of relevant topics such as herd management, pasture management, body condition, ration balancing (based on current seasonal conditions) and tracking to budget, each consultancy visit will provide you with an analysis of your past production/cashflow and an assessment to determine if your future budgeted outcomes are still on target to be achieved.
Typically, clients receive a general consultancy visit from one of our experienced consultants every few weeks (or 30 hours / 10 visits per year). However, appointment calendars can be customised to suit each client and visits scheduled to the level of service you require.
You can request an on-farm appointment with one of our consultants at any time to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your dairy operation.
Our Consultants
Our team includes certified body condition scorers and members of the Australian Association of Ruminant Nutrition. They are all extremely familiar with the many challenges that dairy farmers face, and have a deep commitment and appreciation to and for the dairy industry, especially its farmers.
Andrew Trounce
Andrew completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (Agriculture) from Lincoln University, majoring in Agricultural Management and Rural Valuation in 2009. For the past 11 years, he has been working within the dairy industry and brings 8 years of farm consultancy experience. Over this time he has managed a diverse portfolio of clients including system 1-5 farms, from North Otago to North Canterbury and the Wairarapa region. Like all of us at MilkMap, Andrew enjoys nothing more than seeing his farming clients achieve their short and long-term goals. After all, he was brought up on a family dairy farm in Timaru, and so his considerable technical knowledge of farm systems is complemented by real-life insight.
Cameron Burton
Cameron completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (first class honours focusing on rumen function) from Lincoln University.
He has been consulting on-farm since 2014, and he is a sought-after senior member of MilkMaP’s team. The majority of Cameron’s clients are within the Canterbury region, but he also travels to the West Coast, Marlborough, and into Bay of Plenty. Cameron moves as easily from small, single herd grass-only systems to large multi-farm groups, as well as TMR barn systems. His strengths lie not only in nutrition, but also in identifying and helping establish systems to deliver fiscally positive outcomes. He says every farm is different.
“There isn’t one particular system I enjoy more than others,” Cameron says. “A lot of it stems back to the basics of feed management – making sure we get the most out of the grass. It underpins everything.
“Within the systems, you can achieve great results on sole operator farms through to multi-farm groups where there are more intricate systems-type discussions with managers and staff included in those meetings. It’s about identifying the right system for the right farm.”
Mason Gardener
BAgrSc (First Class Hons)
Farm Business Consultant
Mason Gardener joins MilkMaP Consulting with an AgScience (first class honours) together with hands-on experience managing a 400-cow operation near Methven.
The 24-year-old grew up in Christchurch and Mason has been passionate about agriculture for as long as he can remember. His honours studies centred around modelling ruminant energy and protein supply through diet. He then turned his academic achievement into real-life experience when he took on a sole-charge herd management position.
“It was pretty full on,” Mason said. “They definitely threw me in the deep end and gave me the reins, while being extremely supportive. Because I was working by myself, I could do it how I wanted to, and my degree gave me a good bit of backing. It gave me great experience across the board.”
When Mason was named in the New Zealand Alpine team’s mentorship programme, he took a short time out to concentrate on the opportunity. He has now returned to the dairy industry with extreme focus. He says he has always wanted to consult, and he is servicing Mid Canterbury.
“It’s phenomenal meeting everyone on-farm,” Mason said. “Nutrition is my focus. Everyone goes through the same trials and tribulations on-farm, and how MilkMaP helps them navigate those challenges, or make the most of the good seasons is exactly where I want to be.
“I love what the MilkMaP proponents are. They have a great attitude regarding dairying, and I’m excited to be involved.”
Lutte Thys
MSc BSc
Farm Business Consultant
Lutte Thys joined the MilkMaP’s Southland consulting team in 2022 with plenty of early exposure to the global dairy industry.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in science from Massey University in 2016, Lutte spent several years working on dairy farms in Canada and Costa Rica. In Costa Rica she interned in tropical dairy production, before completing a master’s degree in animal science from at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Her studies there focused on two research projects examining the limitations of dairy cow production and reproductive performance across multiple countries and farming systems.
When she returned to New Zealand, Lutte worked at DairyNZ alongside NZAEL [New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited] during the development of the new BW [Breeding Worth] system, communicating the changes to farmers.
Lutte grew up on a southland dairy farm at Awarua, and she has always been passionate about the industry and cows.
She takes great satisfaction from helping farmers achieve their goals through problem-solving and knowledge-sharing. Her specific area of interest is reproductive performance, and she is dedicated to helping farmers optimise their farming practice and their farms’ potential. Lutte is a certified BCS assessor through DairyNZ.
She says, “Every farm and herd has different strengths and weaknesses. It’s just finding them and helping our farmers leverage their businesses to achieve the best result for their operations.”