Can we do it better?

That's the question farming experts are asking, as the industry navigates recent volatile milk prices.

It's been a bumpy 12 months on the price front, with another healthy jump in the the latest Global Dairy Trade Index this morning.

Overall prices are up by more than 10 percent, and the whole milk powder price up by 13.7 percent.

Lincoln University's Bruce Greig says New Zealand farmers have traditionally used an all-grass system, which is low-cost and beneficial when prices are low.

But he says "all-grass" might also be failing to capture the full benefit of high prices, when they roll around.

"Because of a change in the milk price and in the feed price and also the increase in the land value, farmers are using alternative systems to the traditional all-grass system."

Bruce Greig says although they require a lot of capital, systems where animals are housed are becoming more popular in New Zealand.

He says methods used in the Northern Hemisphere are catching on, including housing farm animals indoors.

"They're becoming quite popular in New Zealand, mostly because farmers want to be able to increase the variability in production because of drought or dry conditions, and they also want to lower the impact on the environment by being able to capture the effluent."