The world needs more milk. The economies of India and China are growing at a rate of 10% per year and their acceptance of dairy products appears to be increasing. In addition, oil producing countries can afford to feed their people better and the world population increases at a steady rate.

So far, New Zealand and Australia have 60% of the world market, but who is going to supply the market in the future?

Northern hemisphere countries are not able to increase their production, so all eyes are on South America.

These countries, especially Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, have weather conditions that allow farmers to feed their cows on pasture and keep them outdoors all year round. Producing at low cost under pastoral conditions seems to be the way dairy farmers here will be able to supply the growing demand since grain and other supplementary feeds have become very expensive and are not likely to change.

International companies know about this and have been establishing connections with local ones, such as Sancor in Argentina, Soprole in Chile, Conaprole in Uruguay and Nestle in Brazil. Farms are being managed by business orientated people, following a similar trend as other countries such as New Zealand and USA.

Source: FarmNews.co.nz