According to Statistics New Zealand (NZ Stats), the equivalent of Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of dairy cows and heifers in calf or milk in New Zealand has decreased by 6.3% over the previous five years.
There were 4.72 million such dairy animals in New Zealand as of June 2022, up from 5.04 million in 2017. The most recent NZ Stats numbers, released this week, show a continuous reduction of dairy cows and heifers over the last five years.
The North Island of New Zealand saw the greatest drop, with about 12% fewer dairy cows and heifers in 2022 than in 2017. The South Island, on the other hand, witnessed a 2.3% gain in population.
Calves
There were 10% fewer calves born alive to dairy heifers and cows in 2022 than there were in 2017. This might be a sign of continuing decrease in New Zealand’s dairy herd.
The number of dairy calves on the ground fell from 4.63 million in 2017 to 4.17 million last year.
Dairy calf numbers have declined dramatically in the country’s North Island yet again, with those born alive falling almost 13% from 2.80 million in 2017 to 2.45 million in June 2022.
As of June 2022, the total number of dairy cattle, including bulls and heifers still to be bred, was 6.14 million, a 6% decrease from the 6.53 million observed in 2017. Both results are lower below the highest number of such animals, which was about 6.7 million in 2014.
Dairy cow numbers in New Zealand are at their lowest since 2011, according to NZ Stats study.
data New Zealand is the New Zealand government agency in responsibility of compiling data on the country’s economy, population, and society.
It had a final total response rate of 73% for its agricultural production census 2022. This was a lower response rate than the 2017 census, which had an 84% response rate.
According to the department’s data analysis, the reduced response rate had no substantial influence on the quality of the statistics generated.
