Maui Milk targets 500 litre ewe production by 2030 as leadership transitions
Sheep milk processor Maui Milk is on track to record average ewe production of 500 litres by 2030, says outgoing chief executive Greg Hamill.
Maui Milk’s Peter Gatley says there’s no way NZ’s fledging sheep milking industry will ever replace the bovine sector.
Talk of a billion dollar sheep dairy industry is unhelpful, according Maui Milk chief executive Peter Gatley.
Gatley heads the company, a joint venture between the Waitiuhi Kuratau Trust (WKT) on the southwest side of Lake Taupo, and a small group of Chinese marketing and distribution experts. He says while there is room for expansion in the industry it will be done to match market demand.
"I don't see it replacing bovine at all. I certainly don't see the sheep driving all the cows into the sea – no way at all," he told Rural News.
"Take the perspective of the dairy goat co-operative – a great business with great products, a solid base, good distribution, some happy suppliers and a waiting list of farmers keen to be involved. But they have been going for 20-30 years and they are turning over about $180 million. If we could emulate the sort of thing the dairy goat co-operative has done, but do it in 10 years that would be great," Gatley says.
WKT has farmed sheep and beef for many years, but just eight years ago embarked on a sheep dairy operation. While it worked well it lacked good access to market, but this changed when the Chinese business people heard about it.
Since the joint venture was formed, Gatley – whose background is in genetics – has seen a fundamental change in way the business (with 3000 ewes) has been run.
"With the demand for more product we changed the system, which previously had been low input, low output with lambs reared at foot and ewes milked once a day. There was not a huge emphasis on high-energy nutrition, but now we have geared that up, rearing about 2500 lambs directly onto the platform and getting the full benefit of the lactation of the ewes," Gatley explains.
"We have fed the lambs as best we could and milked the ewes twice a day, herd tested them, culled out the bottom end and identified the best ones for breeding."
All the milk produced at WKT goes for processing at Waikato Innovation Park into milkpowder. The reason is that powder is a stable form, easy to handle, doesn't need refrigeration and has a good shelf life, Gatley says.
"It's beautifully packaged and marketed in Shanghai and surrounds and we need quite a bit more just to satisfy demand and to give us some efficiency in our process, as it is very expensive to make powder in small batches."
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
Rural retailer Farmlands has reported a return to profitability, something the co-operative says shows clear progress in the second year of its five-year strategy.

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