November 2, 2012
 

Fonterra to expand milk operations in China

The dairy giant is planning to develop two more large-scale dairy farms in the north-eastern Hebei Province to complete its five farm-strong dairy 'hub'. The two farms, located 120 kilometres east of Beijing on an 80-hectare double site, will house around 3,350 milking cows each and collectively produce up to 65 million litres of milk a year once fully operational.

The president of Fonterra Greater China and India said the investment was part of Fonterra's long-term goal of producing up to one billion litres of milk by 2020.

"The demand for dairy in China is expected to double by 2020 and much of this growth will be met from local production. We need to build a safe, sustainable local milk supply to feed this growth," Kelvin Wickham said.

"Today's announcement completes our first farming hub in Hebei Province. Once fully operational, it is expected to produce around 150 million litres a year."

The double site will operate as two farms, with separate 50 bail parallel milking parlours and cow barns. The farms will share common facilities such as workshops, feed mixing areas, effluent treatment and staff accommodation to "maximise the efficiency of the operation".

General Manager of Fonterra China Farms Nicola Morris said the herd will be made up of China-born cows bred on Fonterra's other farms and supplemented by around 4,300 cows shipped from New Zealand.

"The right people are critical to the success of our farming operations in China. We will be utilising the great farming and animal husbandry talent that we have developed on our existing farms, to make up the 175-strong workforce we need to employ locally.

"We have a very well established training and development programme across our farming businesses in China which is helping to feed the talent pool needed to manage these farms to Fonterra's high standards," Morris said.

Construction will begin in December and the farm is expected to open in October 2013.