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The total annual raw milk production
in Japan is about 8.4 million tons, second only to rice as the country's
biggest agricultural product.
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About 60% of production
is used to produce milk for drinking, while the remaining 40% of raw
milk is processed into other dairy products such as cheese and butter.
This production is supported by approximately 29,800 dairy farms and
about 1.72million dairy cows. |
The average
number of cows per farm was about 57.7as of February 2003, of which
the average number of producing cows was 37.6. The remaining cows
were either pregnant, nursing calves, or calves. The average annual
production per head is about 7,400kg. Relative to rice farming,
a single producing dairy cow provides an equivalent income as that
generated by 52ares of rice field. When applied to an average dairy
farm of 37.6producing cows, this provides an equivalent of about
19.5 hectares of cultivated rice. The number of equivalent rice
producers on this scale in Japan can be counted on the fingers of
one hand.
Apart from the sparsely settled island
of Hokkaido, where pasture dairy farming is common, most Japanese
dairy farmers operate farms in narrow valleys or on land located
on the outskirts of urban areas. Even these small-scale farms have
the income potential of all but the very largest rice and dry field
farms. Indeed, Japanese dairy farming is a model of agricultural
efficiency in Japan.
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Source:"Trends
in Livestock Raising;" Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Statistics Quick Report (Research , February in each year)
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Commercial
dairy farming began in Japan in the late Meiji era, about 100 years
ago. However, it was not until the early 1950s that it developed on
a full scale, about the same time that the school lunch system was
introduced in elementary schools.
Compared to rice cultivation and dry
field farming, dairy farms earn income throughout the year rather
than seasonally, and are not affected by the vagaries of the weather.
Consequently, commercial dairy farming was an immediate success,
with the total number of dairy farmers reaching a peak of about
410,000 in 1962. However, during this period, most dairy farmers
kept only 2-3 dairy cows as a supplement to their rice and/or dry
field farming operations, and the annual production of raw milk
was only about 2.44 million tons, or about 30% of current production.
Subsequently, as the Japanese economy
began to flourish, young people moved from farm villages to urban
areas, and many farms that had been in the same family for generations
were left without successors. As a result, farms were combined,
farming operations became larger, more efficient, and more intensive.
In 1975 there were about 160,000 dairy farmers in Japan, and by
1985 this number had declined sharply to about 82,000 farmers. Since
then, an average annual decline of 5% has resulted in the current
figure of only 29,800 dairy farmers, approximately one-fourteenth
of the number in 1962.
On the other hand, the number of dairy
cows has steadily increased per farm. Currently, Japanese dairy
farming is on par with, or exceeds, dairy farming operations in
EC countries, while providing a safe and stable supply of milk and
other dairy products.
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Number
of Dairy Farms and Dairy Cows by Year
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Item
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Year
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Number of Dairy Farms
(by Household)
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Number of Dairy Cows
(by Head)
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Number of Dairy Cows per Farm
(by head per Farm)
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1965
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381,600 |
1,288,950 |
3.4 |
1975
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160,100 |
1,787,000 |
11.2 |
1985
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82,400 |
2,111,000 |
25.6 |
1990
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63,300 |
2,058,000 |
32.5 |
1995
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44,300 |
1,951,000 |
44.0 |
1996
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41,600 |
1,927,000 |
46.3 |
1997
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39,400 |
1,899,000 |
48.2 |
1998
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37,400 |
1,860,000 |
49.7 |
1999
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35,400 |
1,816,000 |
51.3 |
2000
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33,600 |
1,764,000 |
52.5 |
2001
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32,200 |
1,725,000 |
53.6 |
2002
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31,000 |
1,726,000 |
55.7 |
2003
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29,800 |
1,719,000 |
57.7 |
2004
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28,800 |
1,690,000 |
58.7 |
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Source:"Livestock
Industry Statistics"; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
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