Growing up on a 145 hectare Fonterra farm in Ngahinapouri, Hayden Thomas was always keen to work in the dairy industry. As Milk Sourcing Compliance Manager he is helping bridge the gap between regulations, market access requirements and Fonterra farmers whilst maintaining an active role on his family farm.
I've always been passionate about dairy farming and cows in particular, I have been growing my own herd for a number of years now. My family has always been very strong Co-operative supporters, and this has helped shape my career.
I completed a Bachelor of Agriculture Science at Massey University and then joined the Co-op in 2017, initially supporting farmers with milk quality support before moving into the global milk sourcing team. This role provided me with exposure to quality management systems all over the world that were developed to manage a range of food safety risks. Our team’s role was to review quality management systems against Fonterra food safety and quality standards. This role helped to develop skills for my current role.
Following the lockdowns, which restricted travel, and an exciting job opportunity, I moved into the On Farm Excellence (OFE) Milk team tasked with managing the Fonterra Farm Dairy Risk Management Programme.
Any business that produces a food product for sale both domestic or international must operate under a Risk Management Programme as required by New Zealand regulations, overseas market access requirements and customer requirements. A Risk Management Programme outlines how we identify, control and mitigate risks related to the production of dairy products for human consumption. Some of the key activities relating to the risk management programme are raw milk testing and the farm dairy assessment. They are vital in providing access to a breadth of global markets and high value customers.
I think it’s really important for the Co-op to have someone in this role that understands farming, and has on farm knowledge and experience. I get to be the middleman, I suppose, between overseas regulators, Ministry of Primary Industries, customers, and farmers, and help roll out regulations in a way that is practical and achievable on farm.
Changing regulations are a significant concern for farmers, one of our key responsibilities is to educate regulators and customers on the controls we have here in New Zealand to reduce the demand for regulatory changes. We also work collaboratively with MPI to ensure any changes are well thought out with impact on farm front of mind.
Ultimately regulations are in place to protect the New Zealand food safety brand and provide confidence to overseas markets. There is a need for regulations, however it is balancing act to ensure they are practical on farm. Our role is to make the regulations and compliance more workable than they might otherwise be without the farmers’ voice heard.