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China buys large quantities of roughage
In addition to large quantities of dairy, China has also been importing increasingly larger quantities of roughage for its own milk production in recent years. In the more northern regions of the country there are large farms with many high-yielding livestock, but water and good feed are sometimes a problem.
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That is why China imports large quantities of alfalfa and other hay, in addition to various concentrate raw materials. The largest volumes of alfalfa come from the United States.
In addition to the US and Canada, China also buys large volumes of roughage in Australia, Canada, South America and even in countries such as Turkey.
Expressed in money, the roughage trade does not seem spectacular, but the volumes are large. In November last year alone, China imported approximately 127.000 tons of alfalfa from the US, according to the American forage trade, and this was certainly not a peak month.
Herd to 6,4 million dairy cows
With the continued growing dairy herd, the need for imports for feed only seems to increase. According to US data, China now has approximately 5,8 million dairy cows, but at the current growth rate the dairy herd will increase to 6,4 million animals by the end of 2022.
What this does to the production costs of milk is anyone's guess, but the Chinese dairy farming chain does not appear to operate according to purely economic laws. The government encourages a high degree of self-sufficiency, but with the help of imported raw materials, while internally there is also some kind of price regulation for the sale of milk.