A once-in-a-lifetime experience is how Fonterra farmers Belinda and Ben Price describe the international study tour to China this year.
Nothing could have prepared Taranaki farmers Belinda and Ben Price for the vast size, distance and contrast of the farms they saw on the China tour. What they found was a level of scale and diversity far beyond anything they had imagined.
After selling their 260-cow farm earlier this year, the couple now own and operate a 330-cow farm and run-off in Opunake which they had previously been leasing.
Having never been to China, the couple jumped at the chance to go on a trip designed by Fonterra and travel agency Farm and Leisure Tour that combined business and sightseeing.
“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. China is not a place we would have thought to go to for a holiday, so it was a great opportunity to travel there and see what the Co-op is doing over there and how China does dairy over there,” Ben says.
Over an action-packed 16 days, Ben and Belinda were part of a group of 39 Co-op farmers who travelled around China to see how their milk turns up on the global stage and learn more about what Fonterra's largest customers are focused on.
“We went from winter in Taranaki to 38°C, which was a shock for sure! We didn’t fully understand how agriculture works over there. The cities are so populated. Coming from a country of 5 million, it’s hard to fathom a city that has 25-30 million people living there, and yet there is countryside right on the edge. There’s none of the urban sprawl we have here. It’s high rises then farmland,” Belinda says.
“What was helpful was being guided through the businesses and being able to be part of some really interesting conversations about where our milk goes and the customer side of things over there. Farming over there is so different. They might have a 72ha farm with 17,000 cows on it. The Yili show-farms were incredible. The cow sheds’ setup was quite different in terms of feed, and there were massive fans set up to keep the cows cool. Things we don’t really have to worry about with pasture-based farming.”
The tour took the group to Inner Mongolia, where they visited a sheep farm, a horse milking operation and saw how people live in extremely remote locations. These experiences were juxtaposed with “mind-blowing” advanced technology in the cities.
“The tech was eye-opening. The speed at which they can do things over there is amazing – they are so advanced. The highways are amazing, and the bridge out to the Shanghai Port only took them three years to build, and it’s 32 kilometres long and is a motorway!” Ben says.
Belinda says this efficiency is also apparent within Fonterra’s business in China.
“We met with Fonterra’s team early on in Beijing and they explained that they were able to create something from concept and have it tested, produced and marketed and be sold to customers within eight months. The way people even buy their groceries over there is different to New Zealand. There are apps, and subscriptions and giant Costco-like businesses,” she says.
“Dairy is very important to them, and the government is pushing dairy as a healthy product, particularly for the elderly and children. It was really interesting to see what products our milk was in; some things you wouldn’t have even considered to include dairy. Certainly, there was ice cream and cheese and protein powders, but it is also in chips and tea. Lactose seems to be an issue over there, so a lot of the products have the lactose removed.”
Fonterra is continuing to offer Co-op farmers the chance to explore different global markets with Farm and Leisure Tours. Individuals pay their own way, with Farm and Leisure Tours managing the travel arrangements with attendees directly. As these are study tours, the tour company documents a study report for learning and reference material. It also means the trips can be accounted for as a business expense and be tax-deductible.
“It’s definitely something farmers should add to their ‘bucket list’ and get an appreciation of how dairy works over there. China is our biggest market, and to see how it operates was incredible. It’s an opportunity to see what happens to our milk and how consumers see our milk as a premium product. You’re well looked after and the tour is amazing,” Ben says.
Register your interest for the 2026 Fonterra China International Study Tour at enquiries@farmandleisuretours.nz.