Wairarapa: More cows than people

Milking cows outnumber people by nearly three to one in the combined Wairarapa-Tararua district and numbers are growing at a much faster rate, latest statistics show.

A herd count by DairyNZ shows Wairarapa-Tararua has 164,720 dairy cows producing 52million kilograms of milksolids a year but, despite popular opinion, the number of dairy herds in the district has fallen in the past decade.

Ten years ago there were 608 herds being milked, but now there are 470. However herds are larger with 7500 extra head being milked now than was the case a decade ago.

That equates to a growth rate cent of 4.8 per cent, well ahead of the human population growth.

Tararua is by far the dairy capital of the combined district with 312 herds against 158 in Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa.

Masterton is a small dairy area with fewer than 20 herds but although Wairarapa has fewer herds, the ones being milked are, on average 100 cows larger, than those in Tararua.

To carry statistics a step further DairyNZ has released details of the effective hectares being dairy farmed.

Tararua totals 36,922ha and Wairarapa 24,217ha.

As far as dairying as a whole is concerned, Waikato is the kingpin area with 30 per cent of the country's 11,735 dairy herds.

The DairyNZ survey shows 4per cent of herds are 1000 cows or more, but most farmers are still milking between 300 and 500 cows.