DairyNZ announces levy referendum date
DairyNZ has announced the date for its upcoming Milksolids Levy vote.
The dairy industry contributed 37% of the total value of New Zealand's primary exports in 2014-15, according to DairyNZ.
This was revealed last week at DairyNZ's annual meeting in Morrinsville.
Dairy earnings for the year totalled $13.2 billion. Waikato remains the dairy heartland with 34% of the herds; it produced $2.4b of milk last year.
The Waikato's 4020 dairy herds produced 518m kgMS in 2014-15, 27% of NZ's total milk production. But Waikato's $2.4b earnings were down $1.8b on the 2013-14 season when the high milk price ($8.47 average payout) boosted the region's coffers by $4.2b.
Outgoing DairyNZ chairman John Luxton says the 2014-15 season's low milk price has affected all farms as owners and sharemilkers strove to remain profitable.
"The value of milk production to Waikato's economy is huge; the region takes a big hit when farmers do," says Luxton.
The North Island had 74% of herds, producing 59% of total milksolids; the South Island 26% of herds but produced 41% of milksolids.
The industry employed 40,730 people during the year; 27,830 worked on farms and 12,900 in processing and wholesaling.
The total number of herds reached 11,970; average herd size was 419. Last year the industry had 5 million cows.
Fonterra has unveiled the first refrigerated electric truck to deliver dairy products across Auckland.
Research and healthcare initiatives, leadership and dedication to the sector have been recognised in the 2025 Horticulture Industry Awards.
Virtual fencing and pasture management company Halter says its NZ operations has delivered a profit of $2.8 million after exclusion of notional items.
Manuka honey trader Comvita slumped to a $104 million net loss last financial year, reflecting prolonged market disruption, oversupply and pricing volatility.
The Government has struck a deal with New Zealand's poultry industry, agreeing how they will jointly prepare for and respond to exotic poultry diseases, including any possible outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI).
The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry.