Sales for the 12 months to December 2015 were 49% higher than the same period year earlier, and 47% above the 5-year average, according to the outlook report.

Looking at dairy cattle exports, for the 12 months to October 2015, they totalled 86,487 head - 1% less than the corresponding period a year earlier.

Chinese demand for Australian dairy cattle has been hit by lower domestic milk prices and the opening of their market to live cattle imports from other origins. Some 83% of dairy cattle exports go to China from Australia.

Consequently, Dairy Australia has said that exports during the 12 months fell 7% compared to year-earlier, from 71,503 to 76,663 head.