The New Zealand national dairy herd of between 1,900,000 and 2,000,000 cows is unsurpassed for its contribution to world trade in dairy produce, though it ranks only twelfth compared with the herds of other countries. Of the 1,224 million gallons of milk produced in 1963–64, 88.4 per cent was used for making butter, cheese, milk powders, and casein, and most of this was exported. The part played by the dairy industry in world trade is shown by the figures in the following table:
| (New Zealand Dairy Board Report, 1964) | ||||
| Product | As Producer | As Exporter | ||
| Quantity | Rank | Quantity | Rank | |
| tons | tons | |||
| Butter | 231,500 | 5th | 181,700 | 1st |
| Cheese | 95,000 | 10th | 86,300 | 2nd |
| Milk powders | 82,700 | 7th | 62,000* | 3rd |
| Casein | 41,400 | 1st | 42,000 | 1st |
*Estimated.
The butter produced in New Zealand is of a salted type and, because the cows are fed almost entirely on grass, it has a high carotene content which makes it yellower than the butter from countries where cows are fed indoors for much of the year. The cheese exported is a cheddar, although a little of other kinds is made for local sale. Milk powders include those made from whole milk or from separated milk and buttermilk, by-products of buttermaking. Lactose is made from whey, a by product of cheesemaking. At one time skim milk, buttermilk, and whey were almost entirely fed to pigs; but in recent years more has been dried, and the pig industry, which depended on dairy by products, has been declining.
New Zealand had no cattle prior to the European settlement. In the early nineteenth century a few European cattle were brought to the first settlements, usually coastal. The cows increased and their milk supplied local demands. But distance prohibited overseas trade in dairy produce until refrigeration made it possible. The first refrigerated cargo left New Zealand in 1882 and the volume of dairy produce exported from New Zealand has increased ever since. Centrifugal separators in dairy factories (1885) were another important innovation. These give an efficient recovery of butterfat from milk. The introduction of smaller separators on farms allows those some distance from factories to be used for dairying. In areas with poor roads it was easier to transport cream than the more bulky milk.
The new dairy industry grew rapidly. Large areas of new land were cleared for farming; the use of fertilisers, particularly phosphates, improved strains of pasture plants, and better methods of pasture management made possible the feeding of larger numbers of dairy cows. The rate of increase in cow numbers varied, but the total continued to increase until the Second World War when, chiefly because of labour shortages, it fell a little, only to rise again more rapidly immediately after the war. This expansion ended about 1950 and, during the decade 1950–60, dairy cow numbers varied between about 1,900,000 and the peak of about 2,000,000.
The increased dairy production was not due alone to increases in the number of cows. The average productivity of cows, too, has increased steadily rather than spectacularly, and has continued after the numbers of cows were stabilised. It has almost certainly been due largely to improved feeding, milking, and disease control.
The cattle brought to New Zealand by the early European settlers seem to have included many Shorthorns, originating in England, but some came through Australia. They were probably of mixed strains, some more suited to milk production, others to beef, and others intermediate. The developing trade in dairy produce demanded specialised dairy breeds; and the numbers of Ayrshires, Friesians, and Jerseys increased. Most of the change in the dairy cattle which occurred was brought about by using purebred bulls of the dairy breeds as sires in commercial herds. Their progeny were reared and used as replacements until, at the present time, many of the non-purebred or “grade” cattle differ very little from those of one or other of the pure breeds.
Of the total of 3,133,000 dairy cattle in New Zealand, 175,000 or 5½ per cent are registered pedigree stock, and the remainder are unregistered purebred and crossbred stock. Since 1950 there have been marked increases in the number of Friesians and Ayrshires, a marked decrease in the number of milking shorthorns and only a slight increase in the total number of Jerseys.
Other dairy breeds, such as the Guernsey, Red Dane, and Brown Swiss, which are important in other parts of the world, have very few, if any representatives in New Zealand.
The reasons for the predominance of the Jersey are not certain, but two may be suggested. Studies of the performances of dairy cows in different climates have shown that Jerseys can usually stand a little more heat than Friesians, which may give them an advantage in the wamer parts of New Zealand. Also, the Jersey produces less non-fatty milk solids per pound of butterfat than other breeds. This would be expected to make it a more efficient producer of butterfat, an advantage in a country where payment for dairy produce has usually been based on the number of pounds of butterfat contained in it.
| Numbers of Dairy Cattle of the Main Breeds in New Zealand—31 January 1963 | ||
| Breed | Number (600s) | Percentage of Total Dairy Stock |
| Jersey | 2,462 | 78.6 |
| Friesian | 384 | 12.2 |
| Ayrshire | 150 | 4.9 |
| Shorthorn | 77 | 2.4 |
| Other | 60 | 1.9 |
| Totals | 3,133 | 100 |
Characteristic butterfat and non-fatty-solids content of the milks of the cows of the four main breeds in New Zealand are shown as follows:
| Composition of the Milk of Cows of the Four Main Dairy Breeds in New Zealand | ||
| Breed | Butterfat | Solids, Not Fat |
| per cent | per cent | |
| Jersey | 5.3 | 9.3 |
| Friesian | 3.6 | 8.6 |
| Ayrshire | 4.1 | 8.8 |
| Shorthorn | 4.0 | 8.8 |
The temperate climate of almost all of New Zealand suits European types of cattle. Most of the dairy farms are in lowland areas of the North Island, where naturally fertile or improved soils make for good grass growth. There is no good evidence to suggest that dairy cattle of the European breeds suffer from the direct effects of climate in these areas, but climate does play a large part in determining their productivity through its effects on the feed supply. Severe or prolonged winters, or droughts in summer, are the most usual causes of lowered yields of dairy produce.
Most dairy produce comes from specialised dairy farms where the main food for the cattle is pasture, in the main grazed directly, though some feed is stored as hay or silage in times of good growth against times of shortage. Only limited irrigation of grassland is carried out. Fodder crops are commonly used to provide extra food in the driest part of the summer and sometimes for winter feeding, but very little grain or other concentrate is given. New Zealand dairy farming is seasonal because it relies on pasture which grows best in the spring and early summer and least in the winter. Most of the cows calve in late July and August and are not lactating in the winter.
Herds supplying milk for towns and cities differ a little from this pattern. Because these herds must produce milk all the year round, some cows are calved in summer and others in autumn and winter; but even these farms rely mainly on pasture, and the peak of milk production is usually in the spring when pasture growth is most rapid.
The amount of labour used on New Zealand dairy farms per 100 cows is low compared with that of other countries. Because cows are grazed on pastures, little labour is needed for feeding stock, and labour-saving machinery is much used. In 1918–19 about half the cows were milked by machines; by 1941 the proportion was 86 per cent, even higher in intensive dairying areas.
One of the outstanding features of the New Zealand dairy industry has been its organisation for recording and improving dairy cattle by breeding. Recording of milk and butterfat yields began in 1909 in a small way; a cooperative recording scheme began in 1922, and in 1926 the cooperative scheme, which developed into the present herd-recording system, began operations. This was taken over in 1926 by the Herd Improvement Council, a subsidiary of the industry's own governing body, the Dairy Board. The herd recording in local areas is run by committees of dairy farmers who employ office staff and herd testers. The central organisation, under the Herd Recording Council, provides a most useful service by collecting information from dairy herds about yields and about other matters (such as disease incidence) and passes the information and useful conclusions obtained from its examination back to the dairy farmers. This type of service has acted as a model for at least one much older dairying country.
By 1940 it seemed that the grade cattle in ordinary commercial herds were genetically of much the same standard as the cattle in the purebred (pedigree) herds because bulls from the latter were, on the average, no longer causing increased production in grade herds. For this reason an artificial breeding scheme, using superior breeding sires selected on the basis of the butterfat production of their daughters in herds throughout the industry, was started in 1950 with a group of 2,400 cows. The scheme grew rapidly until, in the spring of 1960, 466,000 cows were mated by artificial means. A high standard of bulls has been maintained, despite the difficulties of providing a service for the very restricted mating season for most New Zealand cows and the increasing numbers of cows in the scheme each year. The “proven” bulls used leave daughters yielding per lactation, on the average, almost 30 lb of butterfat more than the daughters of average bulls used in the industry. Because some of the bulls used have to be young “unproven” bulls, the best of which will replace the older proven bulls, the daughters left by all the bulls in the scheme do not do as well as this, but they average per lactation over 20 lb of butterfat more than the daughters of average bulls. The artificial breeding scheme is administered locally by farmer committees who deal with herd recording, and nationally by the Artificial Breeding Department of the Dairy Board.
Before 1961 the Dairy Board, whose members were elected by farmers, controlled herd recording and artificial breeding schemes, collected, analysed, and disseminated information, provided an extension service for dairy farmers, acted as the consulting and bargaining authority for the industry, and directed and guided development and changes in the pattern of industrial production. In 1961 it became responsible for marketing as well, and had added to its membership a small minority of Government nominees.
The New Zealand Dairy Industry is distinguished by the important role which farmer cooperative organisations have assumed. Not only do farmers elect most of the members of the Dairy Board and run local herd recording and artificial breeding; they also own and administer almost all the dairy factories in the country. As well as processing dairy produce, factory organisations often act as merchants, supplying farmer-members of the cooperative with farming and household goods at a discount.
by Donald Souter Flux, M.AGR.SC.(N.Z.), PH.D. (READING), Senior Lecturer in Dairy Husbandry, Massey University of Manawatu.