West Peak Dairy Farm's Story
The West Peak Dairy Story - Where It All Started
What started life in South Hillend-Dipton, New Zealand , has today become a technological and cultural shift in how mastitis is diagnosed, understood, and managed – worldwide. This is the story of West Peak Dairy.
2009 – Grass roots to Mastitis Leadership
Founder, Richard Thomas Kennedy, launched West Peak Dairy
in 2009 after consistently finding the limitations of traditional mastitis diagnostics — slow turnaround times and poor visibility into the specific pathogens causing mastitis. The vision was clear: equip farmers with accurate, rapid, and actionable diagnostics so they could “know their bugs and use less drugs.”
In 2010, West Peak Dairy and Rangiora Vet Centre completed pivotal validation trials, proving the reliability and efficacy of West Peak Dairy's culture-based testing model and reinforcing its scientific foundation. This early partnership bridged veterinary expertise with practical on-farm application, setting the stage for rapid adoption.
2011: Industry recognition and breakthrough innovation
Just two years after inception, West Peak Dairy won the coveted Gold Technology and Innovation Award at the New Zealand Primary Industries Awards — a powerful affirmation from the country’s leading agritech authority. This accolade recognised West Peak Dairy combination of microbiology, automation, machine learning, and its potential to redefine standard mastitis testing across dairy farms globally.
This award placed West Peak Dairy in the spotlight not just for technological achievement, but for practical impact: enabling farmers and vets to understand mastitis at the pathogen level, rather than relying on indirect indicators like somatic cell count (SCC) that suggest inflammation but don’t identify the cause.
2012: Growing the team & scaling capability
With demand surging across New Zealand, West Peak Dairy expanded to a team of six full-time by 2012 — bringing together expertise in veterinary science, microbiology and customer success. This expansion wasn’t just about headcount; it was about delivering scalable, hands-on support to farmers and vets alike.
Through education, field training, support and the latest technology, the company began transforming not just test results, but how farm teams think about mastitis.
2013: A global footprint & meaningful impact
By the end of 2013, West Peak Dairy reach has expanded dramatically: in 16 countries worldwide, our technology is enabling thousands of dairy farmers to make better data-driven decisions around mastitis care and microbiological stewardship. This global expansion underscores the universal need for rapid, accurate diagnostics in modern dairy farming.
Why it matters: smarter decisions, healthier herds, and reduced antibiotic use
Mastitis is not just an animal health issue — it’s a major economic and antimicrobial stewardship challenge for the global dairy industry. By 2050 it’s estimated that 10 million humans will die from antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. Studies consistently show that culture-based diagnostics are critical for identifying the actual pathogens driving infection, enabling targeted, evidence-based treatment decisions that improve outcomes and help reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.
Looking to tomorrow:
Today, West Peak Dairy continues to innovate. Our AI-enhanced diagnostics continuously improve with every sample diagnosed and together with our partnerships with veterinary laboratories, we ensure confidence in every result.
But the story isn’t just about technology — it’s about impact: helping farmers protect animal welfare, reduce stress on farm and play our part in combatting global antimicrobial resistance — one culture plate at a time.
Our Why
Antibiotic resistance
Global threat
Every time bacteria is exposed to an antibiotic it has an opportunity to develop resistance. Soon after the discovery and use of the first antibiotic back in 1928 resistance started to develop and has been getting worse ever since. There are now certain infections in both humans and animals untreatable.
Our Why
Resistant bacteria in NZ dairy herds
‘Just in case’ antibiotic use is not okay
‘Just in case’ antibiotic use is not okay
Methicillin resistant Staph. aureus (MRSA) causes hundreds of thousands of deaths in people each year and in 2023 MRSA was discovered in several dairy herds across New Zealand. The infected cows had MRSA present in their milk, with the bacteria most likely being transmitted from milkers hands to the cows udders. Staph aureus is a common
Methicillin resistant Staph. aureus (MRSA) causes hundreds of thousands of deaths in people each year and in 2023 MRSA was discovered in several dairy herds across New Zealand. The infected cows had MRSA present in their milk, with the bacteria most likely being transmitted from milkers hands to the cows udders. Staph aureus is a common bacteria found in mastitis cases and it is only a matter of time before we see MRSA of cow origin infecting other cows and possibly humans.
‘Just in case’ antibiotic use is not okay
‘Just in case’ antibiotic use is not okay
‘Just in case’ antibiotic use is not okay
We should not be using antibiotics ‘just in case’ an animal might get an infection. This is called prophylactic use, and this practice is now banned in Europe and some Scandinavian countries. Most of the antibiotics used in the New Zealand dairy industry are used in mastitis, especially dry cow antibiotics. These should only be used when
We should not be using antibiotics ‘just in case’ an animal might get an infection. This is called prophylactic use, and this practice is now banned in Europe and some Scandinavian countries. Most of the antibiotics used in the New Zealand dairy industry are used in mastitis, especially dry cow antibiotics. These should only be used when an infection (bacteria) is present in the udder, but unfortunately millions of tubes of antibiotics are put into non-infected udders every year. Blanket dry cow therapy, where every cow in the herd is treated with antibiotic ‘just in case’ is no longer justifiable, unless in exceptional circumstances.
Safeguarding our future
‘Just in case’ antibiotic use is not okay
Safeguarding our future
The globally recognised gold standard approach to diagnosing the presence of bacteria in the udder is to do a milk culture (grow and identify the bugs in the milk). Other methods such as measuring conductivity, the rapid mastitis test and measuring somatic cell count (SCC) indicate the presence of inflammation or other changes in the mil
The globally recognised gold standard approach to diagnosing the presence of bacteria in the udder is to do a milk culture (grow and identify the bugs in the milk). Other methods such as measuring conductivity, the rapid mastitis test and measuring somatic cell count (SCC) indicate the presence of inflammation or other changes in the milk, not the presence of bacteria. Studies show that using these other methods can result in inappropriate use of antibiotics where cows that need antibiotics miss getting treated, but more worryingly, cows that don’t have bacterial infections get antibiotics put into their udder.