NZ: Most Productive Dairy Season Ever

NEW ZEALAND - The 2006/07 season was the most productive on record for the New Zealand dairy industry.

6 December 2007

1 minute read

Oceania

Recent figures show that 15.1 billion litres of milk and 1.32 billion kilograms of milksolids were produced by New Zealand dairy companies in 2006-2007.

The figures, released by the Livestock Improvement Corporation in the New Zealand Dairy Statistics 2006/07 document, say that this equates to a 3.9 per cent increase on the 1267 million kilograms processed in the previous season.

New Zealand cows are producing even more. In 2006/07 each cow produced an average of 330kg of milksolids (comprising 189kg milkfat and 142 kg protein), compared to 325 kg milksolids last season.

The production rate per hectare and per cow was also the highest on record during this time. Average milksolids per effective hectare were at 934 kg this season, a large increase in comparison to the pervious season’s 907 kg.

However, the report concluded that dairy herds continue to decline nationally, whilst the average herd size has increased considerably and more than doubled over the past 20 years.

Currently there are 11,630 dairy herds in New Zealand, which represents 253 fewer than in the previous season.