As General Manager On Farm Excellence - Milk for Farm Source, Chris works with a team of dedicated professionals who makes small yet significant, and positive, changes for farmers across the country on a daily basis.
"Our farmers produce some of the best milk in the world, and I am lucky enough to be part of a team that strives to keep supporting them to do that," says Chris.
Chris, who has been with Fonterra for nine years, has just ticked over a year in the General Manager role says while the team works as a whole, it can be described as three different pillars.
The first pillar of the team is the Regional Food Safety and Assurance Managers (RFSAM) based in each region, a role designed to support farmers with producing top quality milk and meeting and understanding regulatory requirements.
The RFSAM team have a wealth of technical knowledge when it comes to producing quality milk and now offer a free service to walk through on-farm practices to lift efficiencies and find small changes that can make big impacts.
"This team works hard to support our farmers, particularly in the areas of milk quality and on-farm efficiency. They undertake one-on-one visits and work with farmers to lower their somatic cell count and identify any issues potentially contributing to their risk of mastitis. The team also spend time in the shed, to focus on milking efficiency and identify any changes that can be made to shorten milking times," Chris says.
"Giving farmers time back in their day, to spend with family or to get something else done, is vital. And we have seen some instant results from when one of our team have been working with a farmer and how they can be more efficient in the shed, in many cases 30 minutes or more has been saved per milking. It's been amazing."
Farms that worked with our RFSAM team to focus lowering somatic cell count last season are already measurably better off, with the average lowering bulk somatic cell count by 7% when compared to other farms, and some individual farms are achieving significantly bigger improvements.
The second pillar of the On Farm Excellence Milk Team are those focused on developing tools and services to further support farmers.
"Recent work by this part of the team has been working on enhancing the Farm Insights Reports with a focus on milk quality, production and milking efficiency, with farmers receiving individualised reports providing unique insights for their farm. This team is very much about supporting our farmers and identifying opportunities where we can play a role to support. We are constantly looking for ways to work with current and new tools, new data, new partners and new levels of support for our farmers to meet current and future needs," Chris says.
The team is also busy working on ways to make the task of on-farm compliance simpler and more streamlined for our farmers. This involves working with others in the sector to avoid the risk of duplication and where possible look for opportunities to share information to save farmers time.
"This includes looking at our own digital tools developed for farmers, in particular the Dairy Diary App which is due for a refresh later in the year. This will bring some great new functionality, making the recording and sharing of information for compliance purposes much simpler for our farmers," Chris says.
"This is another example of making the most of the tools available that we have to simplify systems and to work smarter, not harder."
The third pillar is very much the future forward thinkers of the Milks team - the Research and Development team.
"You would have heard about ZincCheck and other great products that have come from this part of our team. They are looking to the future for our farmers, what is coming their way and how we can support them. What else can we learn for a drop of Fonterra milk? How can that support on-farm practices or potentially lead to new novel products in market?"
Overall, the team dynamic is one of driving success for farmers through a high level of support, technology and innovation, Chris says.
"Being at Farm Source and being part of this team that works so hard for our farmers - we are just one cog in the massive wheel when it comes to milk quality at Fonterra. It's really rewarding work, especially when we see tangible results for our farmers. It's all part of the bigger picture," Chris says.
"It is all part of the whole chain of events, from milk being produced on-farm, to being collected and manufactured into the excellent products made with that milk, to those products being sold to our customers throughout the world. Our role is to support farmers to keep them doing what they do best, create world class milk so that chain of events can happen, and we are really proud of our work."
"It is a pretty amazing operation to be part of."