A Bay of Plenty farmer will be travelling to Sri Lanka this year as part of Fonterra's new volunteer scheme to work with the country's dairy farmers.

Local Troy Doherty will be joined on the trip by fellow Fonterra farmers Tim Phillips from the Waikato, Murray Douglas from Northland, and Marloes Levelink from West Otago.

Four Fonterra farmers will be travelling to Sri Lanka as part of a new volunteer scheme created by dairy co-operative Fonterra.Photo: File

They quartet will spend a month at Fonterra's new demonstration and training farm in Pannala, near Colombo, which aims to improve local milk collection, milk quality plus farmers' incomes and is due to be opened at the end of this month.

While in Sri Lanka, the foursome will also work with farmers and Fonterra supplier relationship officers on areas including animal nutrition, prevention and treatment of mastitis and how to run a farm as a business.

Both the farm and scheme are part of Fonterra's Dairy Development programme which looks to grow sustainable dairy industries in key markets where they operate, such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia and China.

Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka managing director Sunil Sethi says the farmers will share their expertise and knowledge with local farmers, governments and industry players.

'Fonterra has over 100 years of dairy farming experience and our co-operative structure is built on innovation, an attitude of working together, and a willingness to try new things.

'This has allowed New Zealand farmers to develop practices and processes that work in New Zealand's unique environment and climate. This is what we're looking to bring to Sri Lanka, working with partners and farming families to find the best farming system that complements the country's climate and terrain.

Sunil says training and education will help Sri Lankan farmers produce higher quality milk, which will create a more economically viable and sustainable dairy industry as well as help Fonterra meet the growing demand for fresh dairy products.

Sri Lankan farmers aren't the only ones who are being given the opportunity to learn from Fonterra's wealth of expertise.

Twelve Indonesian farmers travelled to New Zealand last year as part of the annual scholarship programme that helps develop local dairy farming capability through hands-on training.

Preliminary results show close to 90 per cent of the farmers have improved milk quality and almost half are already producing higher volumes of milk as a result of new milk hygiene, animal care and farm management practices.

Scholarship participant Adieb Iryanto says he's since introduced a number of new farming practices on his farm as a result of the scholarship programme.

'I now keep records of my herd and financials making it easier to track the performance and health of individual cows as well as the overall profitability and operating costs of my farm.

'This has allowed me to look at my farming business and see where I can make changes to become more efficient and productive,” he says.