DAIRY CHAMPION
Waikato farmer Gavin Fisher milks 150 cows on his organic dairy farm at Te Aroha. He is the new ambassador of the Organic Dairy Hub, a farmerowned co-operative based in Waikato.
A move in the right direction By Gerald Piddock
Consumer demand for natural food products is increasing and as a result organic dairy farming is enjoying good growth and returns.
T
he sky’s the limit for New Zealand’s organic dairy industry as it rides a wave of growth fuelled by demand for covidimpacted consumers wanting food that is safe and natural. Consumers are no longer just looking at what food is going in their bodies, but how that food was produced as well, organic dairy farmer Gavin Fisher says. Fisher is the newly appointed ambassador for the Organic Dairy Hub (ODH), a farmer-owned co-operative based in Waikato. He says organic dairy farmers are now receiving high prices for their milk.
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“If you look at organics as a global food category over the last 15-20 years, it’s been growing year-on-year,” Fisher says. “Internationally, organic cow’s milk is still a reasonably small offering, but that base is growing at an encouraging rate. As a food category, if it continues to grow then that can only mean good things for consumers’ health and for our farmer’s returns.” This growth is reflected in Organic Aotearoa NZ’s 2020-21 market report, which shows organic dairy exports have grown 55% between 2017-2020. The report showed that dairy was now the largest organic sector in NZ, with its
exports valued at $153.8 million. The sector has 95 dairy farms certified to full USDA-NOP standards, with 36 farms certified to EU standards. Currently 25 farms are in the process of converting to organics, with 14 of these farms in the South Island. The average herd size on these farms was 300 cows, compared to 440 cows on a conventional farm. ODH is a co-operative that comprises over 25 organic dairy farmers from all over the North Island. The milk is processed at different sites across the North Island, including Waikato Innovation Park spray dryers,
DAIRY FARMER
December 2021
