New Zealand: How farmers harvest 100 tons of grass per hectare.

For many dairy farmers, New Zealand is a promised land. However, regulations and economic conditions are making it more complicated.

Caleb Higham and two partners milk 240 cows.

New Zealand is still considered the "start-up" dairy land par excellence. In the mid-1970s, only about 6 billion kg of milk were produced, but today it is over 21 billion kg of milk per year. The number of cows has also more than quadrupled in this period. There are around 10,600 farms on the islands with an average herd size of just under 440 cows. However, stricter emission regulations have made farming more challenging. The New Zealanders take it in stride. Like Caleb Higham, for example.

Farming with low emissions

Caleb Higham is a type of sharemilker. He and two other partners own a herd of around 240 cows near Hamilton. The farm pays particular attention to reducing emissions. Caleb, who is also the environmental and sustainability officer at New Zealand's second-largest dairy company, leads by example. The barns are covered with plastic sheets during winter or bad weather. During these times, grazing is limited or even suspended to preserve the grass cover.

Measures to reduce the CO2 footprint

The manure is collected in a covered pit, and the solid manure is later sold as compost to hobby gardeners in the area. The manure from the walkway to the milking parlor is also scraped and later used as dry fertilizer. With these measures, he has already reduced the farm's CO2 footprint by around a quarter.

Harvesting 100 tons of grass per hectare

An important date on the calendar is the so-called "Balance Day." This is the day when more grass grows than the cows can eat, allowing the excess to be preserved for storage. This is usually a time between late October and early November. Under ideal conditions, around 100 tons per hectare can be harvested. Artificial irrigation and mild weather act as catalysts.

4 million cows calve in the same period

In New Zealand, most cows calve within a twelve-week calving window in the spring, with about 83 percent of the herd calving in the sixth week of the calving season. This means that around four million cows calve in this six-week period. The national calving interval is 368 to 370 days. It is the shortest in the world and is supported by the crossbreeding of beef cattle breeds like Angus, which have a seven to ten-day shorter gestation period.

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