The National Dairy Authority (NDA) has received 1,419 pregnant dairy cattle from Australia — its first such import in nearly three years — to grow the country’s dairy herd and raise domestic milk production. Arriving Monday, the shipment includes Holstein, Jersey, and crossbred animals, and is projected to yield about 5.9 million liters of milk by 2027, roughly 20 percent of the year’s target for cattle milk. Some 150 heads will go to the NDA farm in General Tinio, Nueva Ecija, another 150 to Ubay, Bohol, and 1,119 to Del Monte’s Bukidnon feed lot for quarantine and acclimatization.
The program is set to benefit 176 coconut farmers, cooperatives, and groups under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan, giving them new livelihood opportunities through dairy farming. Funded by the national budget and CFIDP, the effort supports broader growth in the sector — as of June 2026, local milk production rose 21.2 percent year-on-year to 25.38 million liters, while the dairy herd grew 6.5 percent to 167,785 heads. NDA Administrator Marcus Antonius Andaya said the cattle will be bred and then dispersed to qualified farmers as grants, helping expand herds, lift incomes, and supply more locally produced milk, including for government school feeding programs.
