In 2014-15, the average cow managed 4235 litres compared to 3574 in 2004-5.
In its latest statistics released today, DairyNZ said the dairy herd had risen to 5.02 million last year, up from 4.9m in 2013-14.
However, farmers have been culling cows in record numbers this season because of low milk prices and dry conditions.
DairyNZ economist Matthew Newman said Ministry for Primary Industries figures showed cull cow numbers in the last year were 240,000 above those of average. On that basis, the dairy herd would likely have dropped below the 5m mark.
Not only are cows producing more milk, they are also performing better on milksolids, with a rise in 10 years from 308 kilograms to 377kg. Farmers are paid on the basis of milksolids.
Newman said the improved production could be sheeted home to a combination of genetic gain and better feed.
In the last decade farmers had taken advantage of pasture efficiency and supplementary feeds such as palm kernels and maize silage.
Newman said there was no data on which factor – pasture or supplements – had produced the better gains.
Cows from North Canterbury are the highest producers. On average each produced 4706 litres of milk in 2014-15 with 416 kilograms of milksolids.
North Canterbury cows recorded the highest milk volumes as well as the highest milkfat, protein and milksolids per cow. Taranaki cows recorded the highest percentage of milkfat and West Coast cows gave the highest percentage of protein and milksolids.
In 2014-15 dairy companies processed 21.3 billion litres of milk containing 1.89b kg of milksolids. Total milksolids increased by 3.6 percent from the previous season.
«This was a record level of milk production and 56 percent higher on a milksolids basis than 10 years ago,» Newman said.
Other key 2014-15 dairy statistics:
* The average New Zealand cow lives in a herd of 419 cows, and has 146 hectares to graze. Most cows live in the North Island (60 per cent), but two million cows now call the South Island home (40 per cent).
* Fifty percent of cows live in a herd of between 100 and 349 cows, 29 per cent in herds of 500 or more and 12 per cent are part of herds of 750 or more. Only five per cent are in herds of 1000 cows or more.
* The Waikato has the biggest cow population with 23.4 per cent living there. North Canterbury is the next highest with 13.4 per cent of the national milking herd. The rest are fairly evenly distributed across the country. Southland is the only other region reaching double-digits, at 11.4 per cent.
* The cow you are most likely to see in a paddock is a Holstein-Friesian/Jersey crossbreed, as they make up 45.6 per cent of the New Zealand herd. However, your opportunity to see a Jersey cow will increase if you are driving through Taranaki, Tasman and the West Coast as they are more common in those regions of New Zealand.
* Two-thirds of New Zealand herds of cows are run by owner-operators, with 17 per cent in herds owned by 50:50 sharemilkers and 15 per cent in herds run by variable order sharemilkers. Sharemilker herds continue to decline.
Source: Stuff