For a country with more than a billion people, China's dairy industry is small by Western standards. In many areas, Holstein cows are still treated poorly chained to posts and fed food scraps on manure-lined streets.

The industry is being transformed from milk in plastic buckets to hygienic, efficient systems using the latest technologies from Wisconsin. More than 700 model dairy farms have been established around Beijing and Tianjin, with 280,000 cows. Plans are in the works for hundreds of other similar farms, and there are plans to speed up the use of selected dairy genetics.

In some ways, the Chinese dairy industry is now at a point where the U.S. dairy industry was years ago. Small farms are on their way out, while the big farms keep getting bigger.

State-owned companies have tens of thousands of cows. China imports cattle from Australia and New Zealand. It also acquires breeds from Wisconsin and other U.S. sources.

But, unlike some other countries, China has not coveted Wisconsin's cheese making industry. Traditionally, people in China haven't had much appetite for cheese. They're more interested in yogurt, which is used as a topping for breakfast cereal.

China's dairy industry has suffered from a lack of high-quality animal feeds. It's expensive to import grain and soybeans for animal feed. Partly because of a lack of resources, the health of cattle herds has constrained milk production.

Still, the moderate climate in northern China lends itself well to dairy farming. And the country's dairy sector has been growing fast. From 2000 to 2003, the total number of dairy animals grew 75%.

China already has a very well developed pork industry. So the next priority is dairy industry.

Source:佚名