3 Regional dairy statistics | Dairy_Statistics_2022-23_book.knit (2024)

3.1 Regions

• 70.2% of dairy herds are located in the North Island
• 42.6% of dairy cows are located in the South Island

The majority of dairy herds (70.2%) are located in the North Island, with the greatest concentration (28.5%) situated in the Waikato region (Table 3.1). Taranaki is the second largest dairy region (with 14% of dairy herds), followed by Southland (with 9.3% of dairy herds).

Although South Island dairy herds account for 29.8% of the national total, they contain 42.6% of all cows milked (Graph 3.1) as South Island dairy herds are larger than North Island dairy herds (Table 3.1). The Waikato region has the highest share of all dairy cows with 22.6%, followed by North Canterbury (14.9%), Southland (12.5%) and Taranaki (9.5%).

• Largest average herd size (792) in North Canterbury

Farms in the South Island are, on average, larger than those in the North Island (both in terms of farm area and cow numbers, see Table 3.1). This season the average herd size increased in the North Island, and decreased in the South Island. Within the South Island, North Canterbury has the largest average herd size (792 cows). In the North Island, HawkesBay has the largest average herd size of 660 cows. The smallest average herd sizes remain in Auckland, Taranaki, and Northland, averaging 283, 301 and 328 cows, respectively. North and South Canterbury have the highest average cows per hectare of 3.47 and 3.26 respectively, both of which are marginal reductions relative to the previous season. The regions with the lowest average cows per hectare are the West Coast (2.21) and Northland (2.24).

• Highest average production per herd for the season was recorded in North Canterbury

North Canterbury had the highest average herd production (343,077 kilograms of milksolids) in the South Island and New Zealand, which was approximately the same as last season (Table 3.2). In order to maintain this level of production despite decreasing average herd size production per cow rose to 434 kilograms of milksolids per cow. In the North Island, Hawkes Bay recorded the highest average herd production of 251,496 kilograms of milksolids, reflecting large herd sizes.

In 2022/23, average production per effective hectare and production per cow was higher in the South Island than in the North Island.In the South Island, North Canterbury recorded the highest average milksolids per hectare (1,503 kg MS/ha) for the 16th season in a row. In the North Island, Waikato had the highest average milksolids production per hectare (1,139 kg MS/ha).

In the South Island, Southland had the highest average milksolids per cow (460 kg MS/cow), and in the North Island, Manawatu had the highest average milksolids per cow (409 kg MS/cow).

3.2 Districts

South Taranaki continues to be the district with the highest number of herds (901) followed by Matamata-Piako (815) (Table 3.3), while the Southland district continues to have the most cows (436,181), followed by Ashburton (352,439). Mackenzie district in South Canterbury has the highest average herd size for the fourth season in a row with 1,102 cows, followed by Ashburton in North Canterbury with 843 cows. The number of owner-operators and sharemilkers is included in Table 3.3. Fifty-six percent of herds are run by owner-operators, while 29.2% of herds are operated by sharemilkers of various types (Table 3.5). The remainder (19.3%) are largely herds with contract milkers.

Nationally, Mackenzie district had the highest average production per herd again with 410,427 kilograms of milksolids followed by Hurunui with 370,921 kilograms of milksolids (Table 3.4). Ashburton had the highest average milksolids per effective hectare with 1,563 kilograms, while Hurunui had the second highest (1,482 kilograms per hectare). Southland also recorded the highest average production per cow (466 kilograms of milksolids) followed by Invercargill district (456 kilograms of milksolids). Within the North Island districts, Taupo had the highest milksolids production per herd with an average of 289,912 kilograms of milksolids, followed by Central Hawkes Bay with 286,348 kilograms. Of all the North Island districts, Masterton and Matamata-Piako again produced the highest average kilograms of milksolids per hectare (1,235 and 1,221 respectively), while South Waikato district produced the highest average kilograms of milksolids per cow (418).

Note: Districts with fewer than four herds have been added to a neighbouring district to preserve anonymity

3.3 Operating structures

The main operating structures found on New Zealand dairy farms are owner operator, sharemilker and contract milker.

Owner operators are farmers who own and operate their own farms, or who employ a manager to operate the farm for a fixed wage.Owner-operators receive all the farm income, although they may pay wages. Owner operators comprise the largest group of alloperating structures, being 56% of all herds.

Contract milkers (13.5% of herds) are contracted to milk a herd at a set price per kilogram of milksolids produced. The rate is set in part according to the amount of farm work done.

Sharemilking has traditionally been the first step to farm ownership. Sharemilking involves operating a farm on behalf of the farm owner for an agreed share of the farm receipts (as opposed to a set wage). Two types of sharemilking agreement are commonly used: Variable order sharemilking and herd-owning sharemilking agreements.

Herd-owning sharemilkers (also called 50/50 sharemilkers) own the herd and generally any equipment (other than the milking plant) needed to farm theproperty. The sharemilker is usually responsible for milk harvesting expenses, labour, stock-related expenses, and general farm work. The owner is usually responsible for expenses related to maintaining the property. The percentage quoted in a 50/50 sharemilking agreement usually refers to the proportion of milk income the sharemilker receives. While this percentage is most commonly 50%, it can range from 45% to 55%. Under the 50/50 agreement the sharemilker receives the agreed percentage of milk income plus the majority of income from stock sales, and the farm owner receives the remaining percentage of milk income.

Unlike the 50/50 agreement, where the owner may have little to do with farm management, a variable-order sharemilking agreement often sees the owner retain some involvement in management of the farm. The variable-order sharemilking agreement involves the farm owner retaining ownership of the herd and bearing more of the farm costs, such as animal health and breeding. The amount of farm work required by the sharemilker is determined by the individual agreement, with responsibility ranging from herd management only to carrying out all farm work.

The “Other/Unknown” category includes herds with unknown operating structure or herds with characteristics that do not match the description of their operating structure.

• 56% of all herds are operated as owner-operators
• 57% of all sharemilkers are 50/50 sharemilkers

The number of herds farmed, average herd size, effective area and number of cows per hectare for each of the main operatingstructures are shown in Table 3.5. In 2022/23, 56% (5,959) of New Zealand dairy herds operated under owner-operators, 29% (3,100) operated under a sharemilking agreement and 13.5% operated under a contract milkers agrement. Fifty-seven percent (1,778) of all sharemilkers have 50/50 agreements.

Herd production in each of the main operating structure groups is shown in Table 3.6. The table shows that, on average, sharemilkers on agreements of less than 20% continue to have the highest production.

Changes to the operating structure in the last ten seasons have seen the percentage of sharemilkers decrease overall, from 34.2% in 2013/14 to 29.3% of herds in 2022/23. Table 3.7 shows the percentage of herds in each operating structure type, whereas Table 3.8 gives the actual number of herds. For the last five seasons, the percentage of herds with contract milkers is shown separately. Prior to this they were included in the Owner-operator category.

Table 3.9 compares the number (and percentage) of owner-operators with sharemilkers by region in 2022/23. In the South Island there were more variable order sharemilkers than 50/50 sharemilkers, while the opposite was the case in the North Island.

The number and percentage of owner-operators, contract milkers and sharemilkers by herd size is shown in Table 3.10. Herds in the range of 200-249 animals (which represent 12.7% of herds nationally) account for the highest percentage of herds in each known operating structure category. Owner-operators of herds with a size of 200-249 were the most common combination of operating structure and herdsize, with 777 herds.

3.4 Breed breakdown

Three breeds of dairy cattle dominate the dairy cow inseminations carried out in New Zealand: Holstein-Friesian, Jersey, and Holstein-Friesian/Jersey crossbreed. Historically, these insemination counts have been pulled from the LIC National Database. From the 2021/22 season onwards, counts are based on records in the Dairy Industry Good Animal Database (DIGAD, https://www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/animal-evaluation/animal-database/). Breed categorisation has also changed to now match the Animal Evaluation (AE) breed classification used by New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL).

The Jersey breed dominated the national dairy herd until the late 1960s. By 1970, Holstein-Friesian was the dominant dairy breed in New Zealand, because of changes in farm management practices. Holstein-Friesian/Jersey Crossbreed now makes up the largest proportion of the national dairy herd.

The percentages of the major dairy breed categories for New Zealand and each region are shown in Graphs 3.2 and 3.3. Percentages are given for Holstein-Friesian, Jersey, Holstein-Friesian/Jersey Crossbreed and Ayrshire cows, with the remaining breeds and crossbreeds grouped into “Other”. Holstein-Friesian/Jersey crossbreed is the prevalent breed category in all regions. The Hawkes Bay/Manawatu/Wairarapa region continues to have the highest percentage of Holstein-Friesian cows (35.6%) followed by Northland/Auckland (30.5%). West Coast/Nelson/Marlborough has the highest proportion of Jerseys (13%) followed by Northland/Auckland and Waikato/Western Upland (11.5% each). Marlborough/Canterbury has the highest proportion of Holstein-Friesian/Jersey Crossbreeds (66.5%), followed by Otago/Southland (64.3%).