100% IndependentHerd ImprovementSolutions for NZDairy Farmers
At Wingman, we provide 100% independent herd consultancy to help you elevate performance without the bias of a bull catalogue. Whether you need a one-off herd audit or a long-term herd improvement strategy, we act as your co-pilot to ensure the right decisions are made for your farm’s future.
Mark Benns · Herd Engineer
- 72,545 cows analysed
- 115 Warrant of Fitness reports
- 142 herds
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181 to 2,100cows · herds of all sizes
Our Services
Independent Herd Audits
Our Wingman WOF and Wingman Future Herd Audit provide a deep-dive dairy herd analysis to identify current performance and future potential. This is a fully remote service, meaning we can audit herd data from anywhere in the world.
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Strategic Breeding Plans
An independent herd improvement strategy through our ‘Herds for Life’ plan. We manage your bull selection and implementation to build an efficient, high-performing herd for the long term.
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Independent Consultancy
Expert independent herd consultancy for strategic stock sales, purchasing, and exit planning. We ask the right questions of vendors to ensure you get the best value from every transaction.
Learn More‘Herds for Life’ Package
Our all-in-one partnership for total breeding confidence.
Our most comprehensive partnership, providing a complete end-to-end herd improvement strategy for your farm.
From initial data analysis to final bull selection, we act as your independent co-pilot to ensure every breeding decision drives long-term profitability.
Data Analysis + Online Consult
Our independent herd data analysis – the Wingman Warrant of Fitness or Wingman Future Herd Audit – is the foundation which our work with you and your herd is built on. All it requires is access to your herd records, meaning we can do it no matter where you are in the country.
The Wingman Warrant of Fitness goes looking for your best cows, your worst cows and everything in between. We look at your breed, live weight and crucial traits like udder and fertility, as well as gauging the relative efficiency of your animals.
The Wingman Future Herd Audit is about looking tomorrow’s herd. Going more in-depth into liveweight, sires, and TOP + Production traits, the Future Herd Audit is about ensuring that the aspirations for your herd are aligned with your young stock.
At the end of our analysis, you’ll receive a bespoke report, and connect with us for an online meeting to highlight the report’s findings and suggest potential next steps to enhance your herd’s performance.
On-Farm Visit
‘Seeing is believing’, and an essential part of any herd improvement strategy is that we take the time to get to know you and your cows ON FARM. Everyone has their own idea of what their ‘Ideal Cow’ looks like, and sometimes it’s not the same ‘Ideal Cow’ we discover in the Warrant of Fitness!
Helping gauge where your cows are at with respect to their TOP traits will help us decide what traits we need to prioritise and how much we need to prioritise them.
Bull Team Selection
The pointy end of the spear. Everything we’ve done so far culminates in the selection of your bull team. When we’re picking your team, we’re making sure the bulls in your team are balanced and optimised for both production and TOP traits. Whilst outlier bulls are handy to achieve a step-change in any given trait, it would be rare that have every single bull in a team as an outlier. Safety first, second and third!
Bull Planner
The Wingman Bull Planner is just as important as the bulls contained within it. Developed to help farmers identify the best bull to use over any given cow, it’s written in a way that makes it easy to understand – e.g. “Use this bull if you want the cow to sneeze and have a calf!”
The Bull Planner has been well received by everyone and made their transition from fresh to frozen semen easy.
Summary Guide
The summary guide is an amalgamation of the WOF, farm visit, bull team selection and overall mating strategy.
In essence, it sets out the breeding objectives and actions required to achieve those objectives.
It’s the document that links everything together, making sure we’ve captured the essence of what you’re trying to achieve with your herd.
Farmers’ leading the way.
“Wingman can add and the finer details I knew weren’t in my tool kit.”
Cole Townsend
“Trusting you on this one – I’m not happy about the status quo.”
Wynn Brown
“Wingman confirmed we are on the right track with our breeding decisions for our farm system.”
Mark Wilson
“The impact an independent perspective can provide to your herd delivers excellent return on investment.”
Rhys Roberts, Align Farms
“We have really enjoyed Wingman’s independent perspective by not selling one particular product”
Tom and Briana Hoskin
“I think what you are doing is incredibly valuable for people like me who want to get it right and create the best cows they can.”
Megan Sains
“I believe in what you’re doing, I really do. It’s awesome!”
Kevin and Nicole Oppert
Herd improvement solutions are what we do best.
As an independent herd consultancy, we provide the herd audit and dairy herd analysis tools New Zealand farmers need to optimise their livestock without the pressure of a sales pitch. Supporting farms in New Zealand and around the world, we help you build a herd improvement strategy that delivers real results.
