Dairy Farming in New Zealand

Dairy Farming in New Zealand - An Overview

Author: Mark Holland

New Zealand's dairy farming industry is a crucial part of the country's economy. The agricultural sector in New Zealand accounts for two thirds of all exports and has an impressive global reputation. Meat, dairy and other livestock product is revered worldwide for its consistently high quality. The dairy industry supplies the entire country and still exports enough to be the eighth largest milk producer, accounting for 2.2% of the world's production; quite astounding figures for a country of just over four million.

The country's dairy industry rose from humble beginnings during early European colonisation. In the nineteenth century, dairy farming began to expand with the introduction of farming co-operatives. These farmer-owned dairy companies aided the industry's growth substantially. Six years after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, farming exporting began. New Zealand farmer's arranged the first refrigerated shipments from Dunedin to London in 1882.

There were 600 processing factories open by 1920, the majority owned by co-operatives. The number of co-operatives was growing quickly, and by the beginning of World War II 500 existed in the country. The war brought new technologies and methods of transportation that would lead to a surge in mergers between the country's co-operatives which grew larger and larger. Soon the number dwindled until only four co-operatives existed in the 1990s.

From dairy farming, New Zealand exports a number of different products in huge volume. Fonterra is the largest processing company in the country, responsible for over 90% of the dairy farm produced milk solids; the rest processed by Westland Milk Products, Tatua Co-Operative Dairy Company and Synlait. 2005 saw the number of dairy farms at 12,810, covering more than 2.1 million hectares of land.

In recent years, the dairy industry has come under some scrutiny because of negative environmental impacts on the country. Maintaining its ‘clean green' image, New Zealand quickly sought to remedy the environmental issues that dairy farming causes through the establishment of the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord. This agreement was signed by Fonterra, the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry as well as regional councils and aims to keep water suitable for fish, drinking and swimming by reducing dairying impacts through cattle and affluent discharge restrictions.

The number of the country's milking cows is approximately 4.2 million – almost on par with the human population! These cows are responsible for the export of over 11 billion NZD per year, making New Zealand's dairy industry a major part of the country's booming agricultural sector.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/agriculture-articles/dairy-farming-in-new-zealand-an-overview-5175535.html

About the Author

The Waibury group owns and operates a number of Dairy Farming New Zealand investments and grazing-support farms situated predominantly in the North Canterbury region of New Zealand.