History
In 1814 the missionary Samuel Marsden introduced the first Shorthorn dairy cows to the Bay of Islands from New South Wales. From the 1840s, most settlements had farms with some Shorthorn dairy cattle. Herds tended to be larger near urban areas.
The first dairy co-operative was established in Otago in 1871. By 1920, there were 600 dairy processing factories of which about 85% were owned by co-operatives. In the 1930s there were around 500 co-operatives but after World War II, improved transportation, processing technologies and energy systems led to a trend of consolidation where the co-operatives merged and became larger and fewer in number. By the late 1990s, there were four co-operatives: the Waikato-based New Zealand Dairy Group, the Taranaki-based Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, the Hokitika based Westland Milk Products and Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company.
Read more about this topic: Dairy Farming In New Zealand
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