The claim that Dutch cows produce twice the volume of milk as New Zealand dairy cows may be true, but it would be folly not to question how much feed the animals require to achieve those levels of production and at what cost to the farmer.
How fertile are they and how long will they last in a herd and therefore how efficient are they in fact?
What works in the Netherlands, or any overseas model for that matter, won't necessarily work here.
Housing cows in barns is not the only way to increase production.
New Zealand dairy farmers have proved the success of this over the past 20 years and average production of milk solids from New Zealand cows has increased from 278kg to 371kg; and 60 per cent of that increase is a result of genetic improvement.
In 2002 New Zealand and Dutch Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were compared in an independent study, fed on pasture and mixed ration. On pasture production for the two sets of animals was similar.
Dutch cows produced more on a mixed ration, but on both feed types New Zealand cows were found to have much better efficiency in milksolids produced per kilogram of liveweight.
It proved that the smaller New Zealand cows produced milksolids at lower cost to the business, making the animal more efficient and therefore more profitable.
More recent trials in New Zealand also confirmed positive environmental benefits, with high genetic merit cows having considerably higher milk yields, with more nitrogen incorporated in the milk and less into urine.
On many farms, crossbred cows, through the benefits of hybrid vigour, delivers additional efficiency. New Zealand's dairy industry is at the cutting-edge of technology, be it information systems, biological systems, or automated hardware systems.
Some New Zealand farmers have housing barns where they consider it is profitable for them to do so, and New Zealand cows have been proved to perform under a high feeding environment that is still predominantly grass-based. This is all balanced with the fundamental principles of herd improvement: good culling decisions, selecting the best sires to mate their herd, breeding high-quality herd replacements, and a focus on reproductive performance to reduce wastage and provide more options to improve herd quality.
A growing number of farmers are also choosing to reduce stocking rates, milking fewer cows, but with higher genetic merit.
This allows them to concentrate feeding more to their best cows, to get the most return on that investment.
In other words, doing more with less, as Dijkhuizen suggests.
In contrast, the introduction of housing for cows can often lead to an increase in stock levels to deliver an acceptable return on the capital investment, which consequently increases the environmental impact and can lead to higher feed requirements and the possibility of a year-round system.
The Livestock Improvement Corporation has been working alongside farmers for more than 100 years to help deliver this genetic improvement. It is our vision to improve the prosperity and productivity of our farmers, and a big part of that is offering choice, so they can make profitable decisions for their business.
Our Sire Proving Scheme is representative of all farming systems and regions of New Zealand, and the superior sires identified through the scheme are responsible for approximately three out of every four dairy cows milking on farms around the country. Some of these sires are from overseas, but only those whose daughters thrive and deliver in New Zealand conditions are selected for wider use.
Similar to Dijkhuizen, I am not arguing that the Netherlands dairy system should be disregarded by New Zealand farmers. There is no one size fits all for farming in New Zealand, but one thing is certain: profitability is king, and efficiency is the best way to improve profit.
Wayne McNee is chief executive of LIC (Livestock Improvement Corporation), a farmer-owned co-operative that supplies about three-quarters of the country's bull semen as well as information, automation and sensor technology systems, diagnostics and herd testing.
