So, I’ve been thinking about our dairy industry, and I reckon it’s facing existential threats on a number of fronts. We know the environmental issues – water pollution, habitat loss, deforestation, methane and CO2 emissions. Animal welfare is also an issue, for example the ethical treatment of male calves.
And then there’s tech. Lab-grown milk protein is a thing now, and plant-based dairy is seeing big gains. Fonterra’s even investing into lab-grown milk proteins. See https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/130551099/labmade-milk-getting-the-creaminess-without-the-climate-pollution for other companies in NZ making lab-grown milk. When China realises mass production of casein in labs, demand for our milk powder will… evaporate. And that milk powder, is, what, 95% of the demand?
I don’t see how we can just ‘adapt’ dairy farming. These aren’t small problems, they’re insurmountable challenges. And those pressures are only going to increase.
If these threats are unlikely to be mitigated, the focus must shift towards planning how to downscale dairy farming in a responsible way. Industries have come and gone before ( whaling, anyone? ). Anyone got some thoughts on this? What will NZ look like in 20 years?
One of the big differences between NZ dairy and other countries is in heavily dairy areas we don’t feed much grain, we simply put the cows in a paddock of grass and let them take care of themselves. I grew up on dairy farms and there wasn’t a lot of tractor use except to cut hay and then later to feed out hay in the winter. The odd other job but it wasn’t uncommon to go days without using the tractor.
However, this is in one region of the country. I’d say this is normal in two heavily dairy regions (Taranaki and Waikato) which have ample amounts of rain and sun, and fertile volcanic soil. But the South Island has a lot of dairy and it is quite different down there. Lots of irrigation and feeding out of other crops, neither of which happen much in the North Island (we are great at picking creative names).
And to answer your question, this page says the average dairy herd in NZ is 440 cows. https://www.dairyproducer.com/new-zealand-farming-production-systems-dairy/