South Island Dairying Development Centre
 At LIC we aim to be an essential partner on farm. We recognise this depends on the continued strength and growth of dairying in New Zealand. As a leading organisation in this industry, we want to make it our business to encourage new players to join the market.
New Zealand cannot afford to be complacent and cannot rely on traditional dairying regions such as Northland, Waikato, and Taranaki to provide continued income growth.
However, land in the South Island offers significant growth potential for our industry. Already, dairy production there is growing at a faster rate than in any other part of the country.
The South Island is now home to 21 percent of the nation’s dairy farms and 31 percent of our dairy cows, but it is responsible for more than 35 percent of our milksolid production. Clearly, farms in the south punch above their weight.
LIC is pleased to be a partner of South Island Dairying Development Centre (SIDDC) because of the new opportunities the organisation is presenting to farmers in the south. SIDDC plays a key role in knowledge transfer and education.
Specifically, SIDDC benefits farmers through its research and trials. Included under the umbrella of SIDDC are the Lincoln University Dairy Farm and the Southland Demonstration Farm.
The 186 ha farm at Lincoln has a 159ha milking platform and was converted from sheep to dairying in 2001. One of its key objectives is to develop and demonstrate world-best practice in dairy farm systems.
Pasture management is a major issue on any dairy farm, and the Lincoln farm puts much of is research resource into this. LIC’s independent team of FarmWise consultants keep a keen watching brief on developments in this area.
Currently, the farm is also focusing on optimising the use of the Protrack farm automation. The research outcome will demonstrate and document Protrack’s efficiencies, including its effect on the farm’s bottom line.
The Southland Demonstration Farm, on the Wallacetown-Riverton highway, has similar objectives to the Lincoln farm. Its vision is to provide economical, social, and environmentally sustainable solutions for the lower South Island dairy community.
The farm disseminates information in a practical sense, displaying to visiting farmers how greater farm efficiencies are achieved.
LIC’s contribution to SIDDC gives us critical industry-based insights, and we feel privileged to have access to research and development taking place in the South Island.
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