After being met with initial skepticism, an influx of New Zealand dairy farmers to Missouri has helped reinvent the state's struggling dairy industry. In the last few years a handful of kiwis have invested $100 million Missouri milkmaking, which annually generates more than $900 million in economic impact, Phillip O'Connor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports for the Los Angeles Times. The New Zealanders operate four dairies and own almost 10 percent of Missouri dairy cattle.
"New Zealanders are considered among the most efficient dairy producers in the world," O'Connor writes. "But much of that country's suitable land has been converted to pasture, driving up prices and forcing dairy farmers to look overseas for new opportunities." With milk prices plummeting, their less expensive methods, which focuses on pasture-grazed cattle, are starting to catch on with other farmers.
"Their impact has been so significant in our state that it's hard to get your arms around it," David Drennan, executive director of the Missouri Dairy Association, told O'Connor. Another measure of the kiwis' success is their continued expansion in Missouri and around the country, O'Connor writes. Some have already established operations in Georgia, and more are looking at other Southern states. (Read more)
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