Major Trends of China’s Dairy Farming in the First Half of 2020

(1) Drop of number of dairy farming households
By the end of June, dairy farming households related to licensed raw milk collection stations nationwide totaled around 27000 households, a year-on-year reduction of 4000 households, down by 14%.
(2) Larger average inventory size
By the end of June, the average dairy cattle inventory of dairy farms related to licensed raw milk collection stations nationwide totaled around 175 cattle, a year-on-year increase of about 30 cattle, up by 21%.
(3) Larger total dairy cattle inventory
By the end of June, the average dairy cattle inventory of dairy farms related to licensed raw milk collection stations nationwide grew by 1.7% month by month, up by 3.9% year on year.
(4) Raw milk output grew for nine consecutive months
According to the monitoring of raw milk output from licensed raw milk collection stations nationwide by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China’s raw milk output has kept its momentum of growth since September last year, witnessing continuous growth for nine consecutive years by June this year.
Raw milk production index of licensed raw milk purchase stations nationwide in June was 118.4, up by 9.9% year on year.
The combined raw milk production index in the first six month of the year saw year-on-year growth of about 8%.
(5) More attention for DHI testing, with more lactating cows tested
In June, altogether 594 thousand cows from 1003 dairy farms had the dairy herd information (DHI) testing. The number of lactating cows tested went up by 2.6% year on year; the average number of lactating cows from dairy farms reached 592, up by 10% year on year.
(6) Larger per cow yield
Average daily milk output of cow tested in June 2020 was 32.3 kg, up by 2.2% year on year; up by 13.7% compared with June 2016. Out of these, the highest daily milk output of cow tested was found among dairy farms with over 3000 lactating cows with whole herd inventory of over 6000 dairy cattle, up to 33.7 kg.
(7) Better raw milk quality
Average somatic cell count by microscopy of cows tested in June was 228,000 per mL, daily average milk fat 3.82%, average milk protein 3.27%, all at a good level. Of these, for farms of over 3000 lactating cows, the daily average milk fat rate is 3.84% and average milk protein 3.29%.