Robyn Dynes grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Southland and a mixed cropping farm in Mid Canterbury, a background that led her toward a career in agricultural science. This week, her work earned her an MNZM, collected at Government House before she headed to the Beef and Lamb New Zealand’s Out the Gate conference as the awards co-chief judge.
“Science has always made sense to my world,” says Dynes, Principal Scientist and Farmer Engagement Specialist at the Bioeconomy Science Institute, “Even as a kid riding ponies, I preferred to go into the show jumping ring when I knew what it cost me to drop a pole rather than rely on a judge to determine whether I was good enough or not.”
She started as an animal nutritionist before a stint in Western Australia, working on salinity moved her into farming systems, thinking about livestock within an entire landscape. The framing stuck.
“It’s the entire system with that farmer in the middle.
“It’s the decisions they make which determine whether our science has an impact.”
That systems-lens now runs through work on how management decisions and landscape position drive nitrate leaching and greenhouse gas emissions. Current work with early adopters on grass-based wintering across Canterbury and Otago is tracking what the practice delivers across economics, soil health, nitrate leaching and cow wellbeing.
Dynes holds advisory roles with the Foundation for Arable Research, Lincoln University Dairy Farms, Southern Dairy Hub and Beef and Lamb’s Northern South Island Farmer Council. She says those connections keep research grounded.
“I think our scientists don’t understand how much innovation is happening on farm and how fast it’s moving.
“The real power is when we bring their observations together with our theoretical knowledge.
“That’s when change will happen.”
CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.
