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Story: Wairarapa places

Ballance cooperative dairy factory

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Ballance co-operative dairy factory

The Ballance Dairy Co-operative was established in 1895 by local farmers, who held shares in proportion to the amount of butterfat each supplied. In 1913 the company began producing cheese, which was more lucrative than butter. By 1915 the factory was making 19 export cheeses a day, each weighing 38 kilograms. The co-op also had four creameries and a factory at Konini (south-west of Pahīatua), seen here in 1910. The company closed in 1936.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, F. G. Radcliffe Collection (PAColl-4950)

Reference: 1/2-005810; G

by Frederick George Radcliffe

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Ben Schrader, Wairarapa places – Pahīatua, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11973/ballance-cooperative-dairy-factory (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Ben Schrader, published 2 March 2009, updated 11 June 2015.