Southland has typically been the home for sheep and beef farmers, but with the high dairy payout and low returns for lamb and beef, the landscape is now starting to change, with many farmers converting their properties into dairy farms.

In the last ten years, the number of dairy farms in the region has increased from 280 to nearly 650.

Southland’s high rainfall diminishes the need for irrigation – one of the biggest upfront expenses in dairy conversions further north.

But with the increase in the number of dairy farms, comes the sometimes difficult issue of finding staff.

To cope with the ever increasing southern milk supply, Fonterra is injecting $212 million into a new milk powder plant in Edendale.

The site will have a processing capacity of more than 15 million litres, making it the biggest in the country and possibly even the world.

Source: http://www.tv3.co.nz/