Milk production in the just-ending New Zealand dairy season increased by more than 2.4 percent compared to the previous season.

According to the Association of New Zealand Dairy Companies, national production from June 1, 2018 to May 30, 2019 increased to 1,883,559 tons of milk powder.

Robert Gibson, an NZX dairy research analyst, said the figure was up about 1.5 percent from the five-year average.

“The last season was marked by a predominantly strong spring, which helped offset any arid conditions that we had in the second half of the season, which had a positive effect on milk production even by early January,” Gibson said. Also, an analyst from the NZX group said that the prospects for the 2019-2020 season look generally positive.

Robert Gibson noted that May is usually the peak month when farmers send extra cows for selection, but this season farmers seem to leave more cows for milking.

“Data from the New Zealand Meat Council show that the number of cows selected has returned to around 30,000, so with more cows or a slight increase in dairy stocks, we expect milk production to increase next season,” said Robert Gibson.