Issues and options for future dairy farming in New Zealand

Abstract

The dairy industry in New Zealand is a significant contributor (7% of GDP) to the national economy. Major current issues for the industry are the lack of cheap, highly‐nutritive value feed for cows of high genetic merit for milk yield; the poorer reproductive capacity of these high merit Holstein‐Friesian cows; the quantity and skill of farm labour; and the environmental consequences of intensive dairy farming. The industry has responded to these challenges in the following ways. Increased nitrogen fertiliser use has given increased pasture yields, but also increased nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emission from farms, which in turn has led to research on wintering pads, diet modification and nitrification inhibitors to reduce N losses to the environment. Increased use of supplementary feeds has given improved milk yield per cow, but also increased total farm variable costs, labour requirements and nutrient losses, which in turn have fostered research for cheaper feeds and rumen modifiers to improve feed utilisation. The poorer reproductive performance of Holstein‐Friesian cows with overseas genetics initially led to greater reproduction intervention treatments, but a greater awareness of welfare issues has encouraged increased use of crossbred Holstein‐Friesian × Jersey cows to improve reproductive performance through heterosis. The use of larger herds and dairies initially allowed more efficient use of labour, but continuing problems with the cost and availability of labour has seen the adoption of once‐daily milking on some farms and the experimental evaluation of automatic milking systems for pastoral systems. Future developments will include continued improvements in both quantity and quality of feed for cows of higher breeding worth, but more emphasis will be placed on traits such as feed conversion efficiency, health and survival in the herd. Automation of all farm tasks to reduce labour costs will be a major feature of future farms. Costs of environmental compliance will increase in the short‐term until research delivers ways to reduce the carbon and nitrogen losses from grazing and cropping systems.