Dairy herds - and dairy farmers - have come a long way in 40 years. Photo / DairyNZ
Dairy herds - and dairy farmers - have come a long way in 40 years. Photo / DairyNZ
Content brought to you by DairyNZ
Dairy farming has evolved over the years, and a quick look at herd numbers shows how much times have changed.
In 1985, New Zealand’s average dairy herd size was 147 cows, and if a farmer wanted to join the Large Herds Association Conference,they’d have to have over 300.
For a bit of perspective, the national average herd size was 448 for the 2023/24 season.
This took DairyNZ’s chief science advisor, Bruce Thorrold, by surprise.
“When I went back and did those numbers, I actually couldn’t believe it,” he told The Country’s Jamie Mackay.
“We’ve come a long way since then.”
Today, DairyNZ released its 100th “Talking Dairy” podcast, which looks at the history of dairy farming science and changes seen in the sector over the years.
In the episode, Thorrold and DairyNZ’s chief executive, Campbell Parker, talk about the science, smarts, and farmer-led research that helped turn a tough industry into a global success.
In 1985, Thorrold was a young scientist working in Rotorua, around the time when Rogernomics started to shake up the science funding system.
“We started to move towards user pays, and the pressure started going on the sector, which has led us to the Dairying Research Corporation in 1992.”
The Dairying Research Corporation became DairyNZ in 2007.
“So, the landscape is different from a whole lot of perspectives,” Thorrold said.
Back in 1985, there were 2.3 million cows, and the average production was 650kg of milk solids per hectare.
According to DairyNZ, there were approximately 4.70 million milking cows for the 2023/24 season, with a near-record 400kg of milk solids per cow.
That’s 1105 kg of milk solids per effective hectare.
DairyNZ’s chief science advisor, Bruce Thorrold. August 10, 2023.
Thorrold said this was down to growth and expansion throughout the South Island and parts of the North Island.
“We’re making a lot more milk and are a bigger force in the economy, and everywhere else, than we were 40 years ago,” Thorrold said.
Her numbers weren’t the only change over the years; weather was another factor dairy farmers had adapted to, especially droughts and flooding.
Thorrold had an interest in a northern King Country dairy farm.
He said the area used to be regarded as “summer safe”, but times had changed.
Listen below:
“We were probably the driest of the Waikato this season, pretty much ... no material rain from the end of January until ... mid-April.”
However, dairy farmers were now prepared for this, Thorrold said.
“You know, 2007, 2008 was a bit of a shambles: three years later, we had a worse drought, and it’s almost like nobody noticed.”
Thorrold said dairy farmers had improved decision-making, which had made a huge difference.
“If you asked me, would I rather have three months of wet, miserable spring weather pugging up every paddock, or three months of drought, where I’ve got an in-shed feeder and feed contracts and the ability to handle demand - I’ll take the drought.”
Speaking of pugging, wintering practices have come a long way over the years as well.
For example, Thorrold said wintering dairy cows on fodder crops was a “huge success” for the sector.
He said it also highlighted collaboration, showing how science, farmers, and regulators can come together to get to good practice.
“If I think back 15 years, there were some pretty dodgy practices going on, and we did a lot of work with farmers.”
This involved research through the five-year Pastoral 21 programme (P21), looking at things such as buffer strips, grazing paddock order, slopes, and bale placement.
Thorrold said all the hard work had paid off.
“My recollection is, a couple of years ago, the regional council did a flyover in Southland, but they spotted five or six farms where things weren’t going well, drove up those driveways, and in a week they’d sorted it out.
“So, compared to where we were, I think big kudos to everybody in the sector who’s made that happen.”
Listen to DairyNZ’s 100th episode of its Talking Dairy podcast, Built different: Why NZ farmers keep winning at dairy, here.
