Dairy Farming
酪農
らくのう
During Japan's era of rapid economic growth in the 1970s, a westernization
of the Japanese diet led to a high consumption rate of milk and
other dairy products. The annual per person consumption of dairy
products jumped from 22 kilograms in 1966 to 92 kilograms in 1998.
In 1999, Japan produced nearly 8.6 million tons of raw milk, approximately
60 % becoming pasteurized milk and the remainder being used in processed
dairy goods such as cheese and butter.
Dairy farming is most prevalent in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost
island. Hokkaido accounts for more than 40 % of Japan's entire raw
dairy production, but for only eight % of Japan's pasteurized milk
production. Dairy farms in other places such as Kanagawa, Chiba,
Aichi, Hyogo, and Tochigi produce most of the milk consumed in Japan.
In the year 2000, there were approximately 39,400 dairy farms in
Japan. While this is considerably less than the 420,000 dairy farms
that existed in 1963, the smaller number also represents major advances
in rationalization, consolidation, and large-scale production.
*Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries data on livestock
and dairy products |
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