In fact, it is not being bold to say the success of our dairy exporters in growing demand and selling product at premium prices is the main reason New Zealand's economy is not in an even more parlous state.
The figures were quantified last month when Fonterra announced that, in the past financial year, the dairy co-operative pumped $10.6 billion into the economy through milk payments and dividends. This was $2.4 billion more than a year earlier, and $1.5 billion more than its previous record in 2008.
That money is being diffused throughout the economy in payments for products and services, wages, tax and new investment and provides some welcome wriggle room for New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English at a time when his counterparts around the world grapple with how to protect economies from ongoing global financial fallout.
But this economic success has come at a cost, and undeniably that cost has been environmental - specifically greater pressure on our freshwater streams, rivers and lakes, a disturbing trend that is regularly identified, most recently by the Office of the Auditor-general.
A recent report from that office reinforced the view that while the quality of New Zealand's freshwater rated well internationally, deterioration in some areas due to farming was of concern. The report also reinforced the role regional councils played in balancing economic growth with environmental management.
The main cause of pollution, it says, is from sources such as nutrient, effluent, sediment and chemical run-off from intensive agriculture.
And while all farming contributes, the biggest source is from the more than 2.5 million extra dairy cows being farmed since 1989, most of those in the South Island.
In Otago, parts of the Pomahaka River catchment, the Washpool and Wairuna streams and Heriot Burn have been adversely impacted; in Southland there is worry at the health of the Waituna lagoon; in Canterbury at Lake Ellesmere; and in the North Island some lakes in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato.
The vast majority of farmers have always done and continue to do an excellent job of managing farms.
They respect and want a clean environment. But, as with any populace, there are some who do not have the ability or inclination to meet expectations.
In Otago, a small number of farmers with poor effluent and stock management practices have been identified as having a disproportionate impact on the environment.
A dairy farm is a highly technical biological system requiring skilled managers, but the growth of skilled managers and staff has not kept pace with the expansion of cow numbers and farms.
That lack of skilled and motivated staff has contributed to some poor farm management. Converting a sheep farm to dairying is not as simple as buying the land and building a dairy shed.
Cows require more grass than sheep, meaning greater use of fertiliser, and being much heavier animals, their impact on the soil is greater during wet periods.
Some sheep farmers lay a network of clay pipes to drain wet areas, but with the shift to more intensive dairying, and without careful management, these drainage systems can be a source of pollution.
Others have allowed cows access to waterways, although the Otago Regional Council has had some success in getting these areas fenced off.
The Otago Regional Council sets environmental rules and limits but does not prescribe how those should be met, and has rejected pressure to make dairying subject to resource consent processes.
Evidence from Southland, which has a much more prescriptive process for dairying, is that it has not resulted in less environmental impact because farmers tend to manage to consent conditions and not to the environment.
Some environmental groups claim regional councils do not do their job adequately, but this does not acknowledge councils need to balance all interests.
Behind the scenes, Dairy New Zealand is educating and cajoling farmers to do better, and the reality is they react better to peer pressure and education than criticism.
The fine line is balancing how to be green when the economy is in the red - but New Zealand should not pursue economic prosperity at the expense of the environment.
