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24 Wednesday [Edition datE] <strong>December</strong> <strong>19</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
2<br />
SELWYN RURAL LIFE<br />
SELWYN TIMES<br />
Focus shifts from numbers to<br />
performance in dairy sector<br />
The shape of New Zealand’s dairy sector<br />
continues to evolve, with the latest data<br />
showing a shift to fewer dairy herds and a<br />
greater focus on their performance.<br />
According to the New Zealand Dairy<br />
Statistics 2017-18 report, published by<br />
DairyNZ and Livestock Improvement<br />
Corporation (LIC), there were 11,590 dairy<br />
herds last season – 158 fewer than the<br />
previous season.<br />
This was the third year of decreasing herd<br />
numbers, but the average herd size did<br />
increase by 17 cows to 431. The total 2017-<br />
18 cow population was 4.99 million, an<br />
increase of 2.7 per cent from the previous<br />
season but still below the peak population<br />
of more than 5.01 million cows in the 2014-<br />
15 season.<br />
In Canterbury, the data showed there<br />
were 1<strong>19</strong>1 herds, with a total of 952,363<br />
cows, and an average of 800 cows per<br />
herd. New Zealand’s total number of herds<br />
was 11,950, with 4,992,914 cows, and the<br />
average number of cows per herd, 431.<br />
DairyNZ senior economist Matthew<br />
Newman said despite last year’s challenging<br />
spring weather, milk<br />
production was<br />
only slightly<br />
decreased.<br />
“Dairy companies<br />
processed 20.7 billion<br />
litres of milk last season,<br />
containing 1.84 billion<br />
kilograms of milksolids – down 0.6<br />
per cent on the previous season,” Mr<br />
Newman said.<br />
“Farmers benefitted from<br />
favourable late summer and<br />
autumn conditions, so a number<br />
of the regions were able to milk<br />
their herd longer into the new<br />
year, which supported reasonable<br />
production for the year.”<br />
Sharemilking arrangements<br />
were down by 44 herds from the<br />
previous season.<br />
“Herds under sharemilking arrangements<br />
have declined from 36 per cent in 2008-09<br />
to 27 per cent of herds in 2017-18. This<br />
movement from sharemilking to contract<br />
milking is driven by people wanting greater<br />
certainty of milk income that contract<br />
milking provides,” Mr Newman said.<br />
The report also showed a surge in the<br />
uptake of herd improvement services, as<br />
farmers seek higher-performing and more<br />
efficient dairy cows through the use of herd<br />
testing and artificial breeding (AB).<br />
A total of 71.1 per cent of New Zealand<br />
herds were herd tested (8242 herds), up<br />
from 64.3 per cent (7557) in 2016-17. Total<br />
cows herd tested was 3.62 million, up from<br />
3.21 million last season and close to the<br />
record level of 3.65 million in 2014-15.<br />
LIC general manager NZ Markets<br />
Malcolm Ellis said this reflects a shift to<br />
precision agriculture, as farmers work to<br />
optimise their systems.<br />
“The days of significant cow growth may<br />
be over and we know that farmers are more<br />
focused on productivity and efficiency.<br />
Without doubt, farmers are wanting to<br />
know more about the production status of<br />
the cows they milk, gain more confidence<br />
about their parentage and certainly invest<br />
appropriately to breed superior livestock<br />
into the future.”<br />
While the number of cows mated to AB<br />
had a nominal increase of 1.01 per cent, the<br />
number of yearlings mated to AB jumped<br />
up 17 per cent on the previous season,<br />
which Mr Ellis said reflected farmers<br />
identifying every opportunity to maximise<br />
the rate of genetic gain.<br />
Genetic gain is worth upwards of $200<br />
million to the New Zealand dairy sector<br />
each year.<br />
The 2017-18 season runs from June 1,<br />
2017 to May 31, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
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