Our Journey
NZDG was founded with the intention to develop an ‘at scale’ dairy goat milking business to generate economies of scale not achieved by existing smaller operators and to in time progress past the farm gate to become an integrated farming / milk processing / dairy product marketing business.
Since its founding in 2019 the company has established the Waharoa Farm to
milk 6,600 milking goats in the 23/24 season and has entered into an agreement to acquire a second property, Oakdale Farm to increase the overall number of milking goats to 9,350 in the 23/24 season.
All milk produced by NZDG is sold to NIG Nutritionals Limited (“NIG”) for manufacture into milk powder and then further processed into dairy goat infant formula and nutritional powders. NZDG has reached agreement on the commercial terms for the sale of its milk to NIG and has an opportnity to enter into a further milk supply contract with NIG that would enable NZDG to acquire and develop a third farm which would increase the total milking herd to 13,600 goats, and longer term potential to reach 17,600 goats.
NZDG is already New Zealand’s largest dairy goat farmer and will in the 23/24 season supply more than 50% of the milk purchased by NIG.
Our Farms
Waharoa Farm
The milking herd on the Waharoa Farm will reach a sustainable herd size of 6,600 milking does during the next milking season commencing on 1 July 2023. In the 23/24 season raw milk produced, all other things being equal, is expected to be 7.3M litres and milk solids are forecast to be 840,000kgs. .
With the milking herd on this farm now at its optimum size given the capacity of the barns and milking sheds on the property, focus will now turn to utilising the data captured during milking to selectively breed replacement milking does and bucks from the goats currently exhibiting the best average milk production numbers, best health, and best confirmation of udders.
Although herd numbers are currently not expected to increase in future seasons the volume of raw milk and milk solids produced per goat is expected to increase. These increases will come from the ongoing improvement in the herd’s genetics, further improvements in the nutrition fed to the goats through a number of optimisation strategies and changes in the kidding profile of the herd which will see a rise in the number of goats being ‘milked through’.
NZDG has leased two blocks of land at Waharoa Farm. The first block comprises a lease of 36ha for an initial term of three years with four rights of renewal. The lease has 10 years remaining, with market related rent reviews annually. The second block of 10ha was leased for an initial term of two years in August 2020, with one right of renewal; the lease has just over 12 months remaining.
Oakdale Farm
Oakdale Farm is a single barn and rotary milking shed operation on 14.94ha with a herd of approximately 2,750 milking does. It has an existing milk supply agreement with NIG, the same company that purchases the milk from the Waharoa Farm.
A cut and carry feed system is employed with feed taken from an adjoining 136.5ha leased property that has been managed and developed for the purpose of providing the required feed. This feed system is like the ‘fresh grass’ cut and carry system used by NZDG at its Waharoa Farm. NZDG will now transition this operation to the silage and baleage feed system being adopted at the Waharoa Farm in the 23/24 milking season.
Oakdale Farm has been sold by a motivated vendor at less than replacement cost, along with the vendor’s entire goat herd. The expected return to NZDG from the uplift in production will generate a very respectable return on assets and equity employed for this acquisition.
The lease of the 136.5ha block used for feed production will be transferred to NZDG. The lease has 16 years remaining, including two five-year rights of renewal. The lease is subject to a CPI rent review in July 2024 being five years since the start of the lease and then every three years.
The 5,400 herd will be progressively managed over the next few months to leave NZDG with a younger and better performing herd of 2,750 milking does on this farm and the ability to accelerate the herd improvement at Waharoa Farm with 500 top performing goats to be transferred to Waharoa Farm.
