The dairy industry is going on the offensive with an advertising campaign to bridge a lack of understanding from urban New Zealand and remind people of the sector's economic role.
Tim Mackle, chief executive of farmer-funded producer body DairyNZ, said the industry was concerned with how New Zealanders were increasingly disconnected from "their rural heritage", a trend it hoped to reverse.
As well as celebrating the industry's success in earning $10 billion a year from exporting to 140 countries, it acknowledged it had issues to address, such as its impact on the environment.
"We know we've got challenges.
The size of our environmental footprint can't continue to increase along with the size of our contribution to the economy.
"And we're serious about reducing dairy farming's impact on the environment.
We're working on these issues, because it's important not just to dairy farmers and our customers, but to all of New Zealand," he said.
