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S P E C I A L F E A T U R E
Major Malcolm Macrae
21
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
H
aving been lucky enough to be awarded the XLVets New Zealand dairy travel
scholarship I was determined to make the most of it, so I spent several months
travelling around Asia before arriving in New Zealand early in February 2010.
It was a fair shock to the system starting work just as everyone was getting stuck into
scanning but surprisingly I was keen to get back to work. I am employed at a large
veterinary practice based on the Canterbury plains on the east coast of the South
Island where I intend to work for a year in order to experience all the seasons that
come with 'New Zealand' farming.
Autumn
in New Zealand
Traditionally this was not a dairying area
as it was too dry for pasture growth but,
since sourcing water for irrigation has been
possible, dairying in this area has boomed.
Locals estimate an increase of 500% in the
last 10 years, and figures I can find support
this; from 1990 to 2003 stock numbers
increased 390%. The majority of farms in
New Zealand still work off a pasture based
system, so are very seasonal. Herd size in
Canterbury averages 800, which is above
the national average of 337, and most are
milked in rotary parlours. Cows tend to be
Friesian (46%), Jersey (14%) or crossbred
(32%); and they are much smaller than most
cows I ever worked with in the UK! Whilst
about 64% of herds are owner operated,
many other herds are run by sharemilkers.
The sharemilker doesn't own the land but
will pay for everything else involving the
cows and take home 50% of the income,
depending on the exact agreement.
Sharemilking has traditionally been the
first step to farm ownership over here.
New Zealand is unusual in that most of its
milk is exported rather than produced for its
own citizens. Although it only produces 2%
of the world’s milk it makes up 30% of the
world’s milk exports, as most other countries
produce milk for their own domestic market.
This means, in New Zealand, dairy farmers
are heavily governed by world market prices
which can fluctuate quite substantially. Milk is
often shipped as powder and as such milk
solids (fat and protein) are very important.
Farmers are paid on milk solids rather than
volume. Currently they are getting about
$6/kg MS, although this has varied
dramatically from $3 to $8 in the last 10
years. It is difficult to compare the value of
milk solids with the price per litre because
although cows may yield different volumes,
the milk solid percentage could be quite
different. Here, cows tend to produce about
3.6% protein and 4.9% fat, reflecting the
Jersey genetics. But to give you an idea,
a good yield would be 300-400kg
MS/cow/season or about 2.2MS/day
which usually equates to around
18 litres/day.
Amy Avery
Endell Veterinary Group