Dairy Internship in New Zealand Opens Student's Eyes

New Zealand has always been a destination for those seeking the unique and exotic. But as Penn Stater Kathryn LaVan recently found out, the land of kiwi and kea birds is also a great place to find a fresh take on an old tradition.

An agricultural and biological engineering major from Home, Pa., the fifth-year senior found herself exploring the stunning mountains, valleys, and waterways of New Zealand during a summer internship.

"All the students in the College of Agricultural Sciences got an e-mail offering a dairy internship in New Zealand for the summer," she says. "I jumped at the chance."

When Kathryn arrived, the natural and practically untouched beauty of the country amazed her. However, she was even more surprised by New Zealand once she started her internship.

"I found there are a lot of differences between New Zealand dairy production and American dairy production," she recalls. "One of the main differences is that in New Zealand, feeding the cows is very pasture based as opposed to how we feed cows indoors. They do this in New Zealand for a number of reasons. Unlike how we experience temperature changes, New Zealand's constant temperate climate allows farmers to leave their cows out to graze. This also cuts out the labor of feeding cows and ultimately saves the farmer money."

Not only is outdoor grazing an economical way to cut back on labor, but it also attracts consumers to the end product. "New Zealand has really taken advantage of the big push lately for all-organic and natural products," she says. "By allowing the cows to graze on grass outdoors, they're showing the consumers that their cows consume all-natural products."

Along with using cows as an excellent marketing tool, New Zealand also has quite a surprising use for the dairy farms these cows call home.

"In New Zealand, dairy producers use their farms as tourist attractions," she says. "The dairy farms are set up as bed and breakfasts with a tour of the farm included. So along with exploring the island, visitors can spend the night on a remote farm and wake up to the sun rising over the mountains and fields."

Farmers are not only interested in the tourism they bring to New Zealand, but also the products they ship out. In fact, New Zealand is one of the world's top-five dairy exporters. "New Zealanders look for higher solid content in their milk," says LaVan. "This makes it easier to break down the milk into powdered milk and other solid products, which are then easier and less expensive to ship than fluid milk. America produces more liquid milk since, unlike New Zealand, it does not export as much dairy."