Colostrum is the first milk produced after birth and is a rich source of macro and micronutrients, immunoglobulins and peptides with anti-microbial activity and growth factors (Playford & Weiser, 2021). It is used predominantly in nutritional supplements, but also skincare, pet and sports nutrition.

New Zealand had developed a small but lucrative market for bovine colostrum powder alongside its rapidly growing dairy export market, since at least the year 2000. However, on 1st September 2012, China’s Ministry of Health banned the use of bovine colostrum and related products in infant formula due to a lack of safety data (high calcium, casein and estrogen) (He, 2012). Bovine colostrum is not allowed to be added to infant formula in most markets, and the majority of the colostrum powder sold in China at this time was from New Zealand. Fonterra and Synlait subsequently stopped producing colostrum powder altogether.

Westland Milk Products has been producing colostrum for over 20 years and is the only major New Zealand manufacturer of bovine colostrum powder to this day. We have a small number of loyal and long-standing customers, primarily based in New Zealand and the USA. Finished products containing colostrum are primarily exported from NZ to South Korea, China, SEA, the EU and the USA.

The majority of bovine colostrum powder on the world market comes from the USA where recently Glanbia has acquired two of the largest producers and manufactures more bovine colostrum powder than the rest of the world combined. Despite the raw material from Westland Milk Products being considerably more expensive than US sources, our customers are able to position their products as trusted, premium quality, genuine New Zealand origin products from beneath the Southern Alps.

Colostrum supply has struggled to keep up with booming consumer demand in recent times, and in New Zealand especially, we have some unique challenges associated with the collection, storage and processing of colostrum.

• Pasture Based Farming System more difficult for colostrum collection

New Zealand has a grass-fed pasture-based dairy farming system supported by moderate temperatures, fertile soil, plentiful rainfall and abundant sunshine. This means that dairy cows have daily access to grass except when it is necessary to temporarily remove cows from pasture for milking, veterinary advice, transportation, regulatory compliance or environmental conditions. Cows that graze on pasture are perceived to have a better quality of life as they can exhibit their natural behaviours.
In the USA most cows are housed indoors or in more intensive farming systems which enables closer monitoring during calving and subsequently colostrum may be collected much earlier under this farming model.
Logistically it is more difficult for farmers in New Zealand to monitor the calving process, and subsequently milk cows and collect colostrum under the grass-fed farming system, as the cows are outside calving in paddocks.

• Calving, colostrum collection and spring-like conditions make for a frantic time of year

The New Zealand pasture-based farming system results in a specific grass growth curve based on our seasons. This in turn drives our calving season which starts from mid-July to mid-August across the country. The average herd size in New Zealand is 441 cows, so with almost all expected to calve within ten weeks this is a busy time of year on farm. Merge this with the start of Spring-like weather conditions, re-sowing winter crop paddocks and an increase in grass growth and you have the busiest time on the dairy farming calendar.

Collecting colostrum on-top of these other demands at this time of year can be a stretch on resources (Piddock, 2023).

 (Westland Milk Products, 2018)

This chart illustrates the milk curve for New Zealand starting in spring each year. It follows that our herds are in calf for a shorter period of the year in New Zealand compared to the USA and EU, where staggered calving across the year produces a flatter milk curve.

• The Farmgate Milk Price determines the enthusiasm farmers have for colostrum supply

Milk processors in  New Zealand use a Farmgate Milk Price (FGMP) to pay their farmers for milk supplied. For New Zealand dairy companies, this price is directly linked to the market price achieved on the twice-monthly GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) trading event for referenced commodity dairy products such as Whole Milk Powder, Skim Milk Powder, and Butter (Fonterra, 2024). When global prices are high, and the FGMP is good or very good, the payoff for the additional work required to collect colostrum is less attractive to our farmer suppliers. Subsequently when FGMP is low farmers are more likely to want to retain colostrum to feed to their calves rather than buying in calf milk replacer to feed them.

• Calves require colostrum for optimal health

There is increasing awareness of how important it is for a calf to receive sufficient antibodies from quality colostrum within the first 12 hours of life.

Unlike a human baby, calves do not receive any passive immunity from their mother in utero making this first feed critical for their health outcomes. It is also the reason why bovine colostrum is a richer source of bioactive compounds than human colostrum (Moran, 2012).

A calf needs 3-4 litres of colostrum in its first 12 hours of life. At 24 hours old, the calf gut “closes” and becomes unable to absorb antibodies so surplus colostrum is collected for processing after this without affecting the health outcomes of the calves (Colostrum, 2024). In addition more Bobby Calves are being kept in the dairy-beef sector as a future food source and thus with more mouths to feed, farmers are sometimes reluctant to forgo additional or surplus colostrum (Jolly, 2016).

• Considerable logistics required when processing fresh colostrum

At Westland Milk Products we know that to preserve and maximise the bioactivity of our colostrum products, we need to process from fresh not frozen colostrum. This means for five weeks from early August to mid-September, we are busy collecting and processing colostrum every day. In other parts of the world, particularly the USA where the bulk of the world’s bovine colostrum is processed, farmers will freeze their colostrum which is then collected at a later date for transport to the processor.

There are significant logistical efficiencies achieved when freezing and consolidating the volumes for processing, but at Westland we firmly believe that processing from fresh has a beneficial impact on the quality and efficacy of the finished product.

In recent years, Westland Milk Products has seen demand for our colostrum products that far exceeds our ability to supply. It takes significant effort and resources to set up new farmer suppliers with the facilities to collect colostrum on farm, and provide the support and education needed to deliver a quality product that does not compromise the welfare of the calves. However, Westland is committed to growing our colostrum pool to meet the increasing global demand for this highly valued product. Our farmer suppliers that contribute to our colostrum programme put in an extraordinary effort at a very busy time of year to supply us with their surplus colostrum from the first two milkings, but the additional returns they gain from this short period are more than worth the effort.

Talk to our Westpro Bioactives team should you have any enquiries.

References

Colostrum. (2024). Retrieved from DairyNZ: https://www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/calves/colostrum/

Fonterra. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/investors/farmgate-milk-price/milk-price-methodology.html

He, N. (2012, Jul 27). China Banned Bovine Colostrum in Infants Foods since 1 September. Retrieved from ChemLinked: https://food.chemlinked.com/news/food-news/china-banned-bovine-colostrum-infants-foods-1-september

Jolly, A. (2016). Bobby calves: The game changers within New Zealand's supply chain. Retrieved from Rural Leaders: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/awxwahy5osyasgogqry7l/Jolly__Andrew_Bobby_Calves_-_The_game_changers_within_NZ_s_supply_chain.pdf?rlkey=jlpso1btmqz4nr64wk10l0hvx&e=1&dl=0

Moran, J. (2012, Nov 1). CSIRO Publishing. Retrieved from The Importance of Colostrum to Newborn Calves: https://www.publish.csiro.au/ebook/chapter/9780643107427_Chapter5

Piddock, G. (2023, December 14). Farmers Weekly. Retrieved from https://farmersweekly.co.nz/farm-management/cow-numbers-fall-3-5-in-latest-dairy-stats/

Playford, R. J., & Weiser, M. J. (2021, Jan 18). Bovine Colostrum: Its Constituents and Uses. Retrieved from National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7831509/

Westland Milk Products. (2018, June). Dairy Industry Restructuring Act Review. Retrieved from Ministry for Primary Industries: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/31200/direct