The world's largest milk powder drier - capable of producing up to 700 tonnes a day - was officially opened at Fonterra's Darfield site in Canterbury on Saturday.
The giant drier, which has already produced more than 50,000 tonnes of whole milk powder since it started operation, was ceremonially opened by Environment Minister and Selwyn MP Amy Adams as part of a public open day.
The milk powder produced at the site was exported to more than 20 markets worldwide including the Middle East, China and southeast Asia.
Canterbury was New Zealand's fastest-growing dairying region and the completion of stage two at the Darfield site meant Fonterra could continue to process the increasing milk volumes and meet growing global demand for dairy nutrition, Fonterra's director of New Zealand operations, Robert Spurway, said.
Recent dairy statistics showed there were 1046 dairy herds in Canterbury, with a total of 826,325 cows. North Canterbury has the top average herd size (791 cows on average) in New Zealand, plus the highest average number of cows per hectare (3.49).
It is followed by South Canterbury at 3.45/ha.
