Big increase in South Island dairy cattle numbers

Big increase in South Island dairy cattle numbers

Expansion in New Zealand's dairy herd was concentrated in the South Island from 2008 to 2009, where numbers grew 13 percent to 2.1 million, Statistics New Zealand said today. Canterbury was the South Island's largest dairying region, recording 10 percent growth to reach a herd size of 918,000, followed by Southland, where numbers grew 19 percent to reach 589,000, according to the final results of the 2009 Agricultural Production Survey.

National dairy herd numbers reached a record high of 5.9 million at 30 June 2009, up 282,000 since 2008. The size of the North Island herd remained stable at 3.8 million.

Factors contributing to the South Island growth include continued dairy conversions, a smaller number of dairy cows and heifers going to the beef herd, more older cows remaining in milking herds, and the sourcing of dairy heifers from the North Island.

"In 2009, South Island dairy cattle numbers were almost seven times larger than 20 years ago when there were 312,000 dairy cattle," said agricultural statistics manager Gary Dunnet. "North Island numbers increased from 3.0 million to 3.8 million over the same period."

Between 2008 and 2009, sheep numbers fell to 32.4 million, deer numbers were down to 1.1 million, and beef numbers remained stable at 4.1 million.

The survey also showed continued growth in the planting of wine grapes and kiwifruit since 2007, the last time information on horticultural crops was collected. The total area planted in wine grapes increased 13 percent to reach 33,400 hectares, with plantings in the Marlborough region making up two-thirds of the increase. The total area planted in kiwifruit reached 13,300 hectares, driven by plantings of gold kiwifruit.

The 2009 Agricultural Production Survey, conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, gathers data from farmers, horticulturists, and foresters.

View the report here.

ENDS

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