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Tuesday, 06 October 2020 06:55

Sheep milk demand soars

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Maui Milk general manager operations Peter Gatley. Maui Milk general manager operations Peter Gatley.

Sheep milk company Maui Milk is looking for new farmer suppliers as demand soars.

The company has taken on four new independent suppliers in Waikato this season to complement milk from its own farms.

Maui Milk general manager operations Peter Gatley says the company needs a lot more milk to satisfy demand from Danone for its Karicare brand sheep infant formula.

One of the new conversions is a greenfield site development on a sheep farm; others involve fitting out existing herringbone sheds on dairy farms. 

Gatley says the dairy farm conversion model, located within an hour’s drive of the powder plant at Innovation Park, is expected to be the backbone of industry growth.

He points out that there are 3800 dairy farms in the Waikato, with most able to incorporate sheep milking. 

“Even the smaller ones have sufficient scale for sheep milking. They have a lot of milking infrastructure suitable for dairy and sheep – topography, fertility, small paddocks, races, water and effluent system,” he told Rural News.

See the full story in the next Rural News out October 20.

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