The total cow population in the 2014/15 season was 5.02 million. Photo / iStock
New Zealand's dairy cow population hit 5 million for the first time in the 2014/15 year - up 1 million from the 2007/8 season, Dairy NZ said.
The total cow population in the 2014/15 season was 5.02 million, an increase of 1.9 per cent over the previous season, although the
number since the then is likely to have fallen because of higher than normal rate of culling, DairyNZ senior economist Matthew Newman said.
Dairy NZ, in its latest release of dairy statistics, said total effective hectares in dairy - support blocks excluded - were 1.75 million - an increase of about 30,000 ha on the previous season.
In 2014/15, dairy companies processed 21.3 billion litres of milk containing 1.89 billion kilograms of milksolids.
Total milksolids processed increased by 3.6 per cent from the 1.83 billion kilograms processed in the previous season. This was a record level of milk production and 56 per cent higher than 2004/5.
