Tuesday, 03 March 2015 15:31

High society for sheep milking

Written by 
Massey University Craig Prichard with sheep milk. Massey University Craig Prichard with sheep milk.

Plans to expand the sheep milk industry have advanced to the formation of a society to develop and promote the industry, confirmed at the close of a recent two day conference at Massey University. 

 The conference exceeded the expectations of its organiser, associate professor Craig Prichard from the university’s school of management.

Prichard told Rural News they set out to attract a few key industry players: 40-60 people would have been great, he said. “In the end, we got 157 people, effectively the whole industry in the same room, which was fantastic. We had sheep milk producers, regulators, consultants, new farmers – a great range of people.”

He says the spirit of the group imparted a sense of what’s possible for this new industry. 

The new society is a “coalition of the willing”. It will raise money for in-market research on sheep milk products, he says. The society needs some sort of marketing role given the nature of the industry, which currently has one big company – Blue River Dairy – and smaller ones. 

There is speculation Landcorp will form a joint venture with a marketing and brand company and could then play a large role in the industry.

Prichard says there is so far no decision on what structure a sheep milk industry might adopt. The present aim is to get the society running well, hold more conferences, do some research and go from there.

More like this

From Nelson to Dairy Research: Amy Toughey’s Journey

Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.

Featured

John Deere technician's record hat trick

Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

National

Machinery & Products

Tech might take time

Agritech Unleashed – a one-day event held recently at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton – focused on technology as an ‘enabler’…

John Deere acquires GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a globally recognised leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy,…

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…

Save us from SAFE

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter