Responding to a parliamentary question this week, Minister for Agriculture Damien O’Connor said an estimated $406 million worth of animals would be exported this year.
The value of livestock exported in 2021 was approximately $340m, up from $261m in 2020, O’Connor said.
Chair of Livestock Export NZ Mark Willis said the organisation experienced an increase of more than 20% in the value of animals exported, compared to previous price highs.
The demand for breeding stock from New Zealand increased because Chinese importers and farmers wanted to secure stock before the ban, he said.
Ministry for Primary Industries data showed in 2021 there were 134,722 animals exported, with 109,921 in 2020. This year 109,835 had already been exported.
A cow earmarked for export now fetched between $2000 to $2200 at the farmgate, Willis said.
China had large dairy operations and could only breed about 40% of the cows it needed, with the remainder imported, he said.
Willis said about 4000 farmers sold into the export market.
Ashburton dairy farmer Lyle Williams said for the past three years he sold about 150 young cows for export every year.
Typically, he would be paid between $1600 to $1900 for an export cow, he said.
In New Zealand he would be paid $500 to $600 for the same animal because there was already an oversupply of young cows on the market, he said.
Williams said he was concerned even more surplus animals on the local market would affect the entire industry and cause a price crash.
The dairy industry was shrinking and would not need the cows that were exported, Williams said.
He would also make a significant loss if he reared his cows as it cost him about $400 to rear one.
He suspected cows would be sold as bobby calves, but this paid about $25 per animal, he said.
There wasn’t enough grazing to raise the current replacement cows and surplus cows would put pressure on grazing, he said.
Manager of industrial operations and innovation at the Meat Industry Association Richard McColl said the export dairy cows could not be raised for the meat trade as there was not enough local demand for meat.
Surplus animals would also displace animals already raised for meat, McColl said.
Closing off the live trade market it closed an avenue for the animals, he said.
Farms would also not be able to raise such animals as it displaced cows raised for milking, he said.
