Can Wisconsin Benefit From China’s Ban On New Zealand Dairy?

Wisconsin’s dairy industry could benefit from China’s decision to ban certain dairy products from New Zealand.

New Zealand’s largest dairy producer, Fonterra, issued international recalls after it found possible contamination in some of its products: Whey proteins may have picked up botulism-causing bacteria after traveling through dirty pipes. Although no illnesses have been reported, China has since banned certain dairy products from New Zealand.

Whey protein is found in many products, like baby formula, bread, and muscle-strengthening dietary supplements.

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus Bob Cropp says the development is unfortunate for New Zealand, but creates an opportunity for the United States. “It’s going to help U.S. exports and Wisconsin, of course, is a big exporter of whey proteins,” he says. “So I suspect that we may sell more product to China because of that. They trust us.”

Cropp says Wisconsin produced a record amount of whey protein last year.

Brian Gould, a professor at UW-Madison’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, says the markets and dairy prices have not yet been drastically affected by China’s temporary block.

“I think this is a wait-and-see type of situation,” he says. “We need to wait and see how long the banning of these exports [is going to] occur, but also the degree [to which] other counties are going to jump on board. We don’t know that as of now.”

Gould says Wisconsin has benefited from problems in New Zealand in the past, but usually it’s related to droughts that affect the country’s output.