Size of herds up as total drops

Dairy industry statistics for the 2004/05 period show that herd sizes are continuing to rise while the total number of herds continues to drop.

The average dairy herd size is now 315, according to research published by Livestock Improvement on behalf of Dairy Insight.

The total number of herds dropped by 480 to 12,271.

The total cow population rose to $3.87 million - an increase of just 0.4 per cent.

The research found that herds with between 650 and 749 cows had the highest production per cow.

The South Island continues to grow rapidly as a dairying region. It now has more than one million cows - 27.5 per cent of the national population.

That is 40,000 more than the previous season.

Total milk production was down 3.3 per cent on 2003/04 although that may have been largely driven by poor weather.

The latest survey of sheep and beef stock numbers has also been released by Meat and Wool New Zealand.

It found that sheep numbers were up 2.3 per cent, taking the total population to 40.1 million - the highest level since 2001.

An exceptionally mild spring had led to an excellent survival rate for lambs.

Beef cattle numbers to June 30 decreased by 1.2 per cent to 4.39 million.