2.36. Write an essay on dairy industry.
Answers
Milk is defined as the lacteal secretion obtained by the complete milking of one or more mammalian animals. Dairy farming is a part of agriculture, practiced to produce milk which is generally from dairy cows, and also from sheep, camel, and goat. Dairy industry is a highly important component of food industry, which buys raw milk refrigerated for farmers to normalize by transforming and distributing it (Moran H. , 2005). Usually, the milk is processed in a dairy factory or on the dairy farm itself. From hand milking the cows to machine milking, milk production has developed immensely with latest technologies. Dairy farming has been done all over the world, but most of the countries which produce milk consume internally. New Zealand is one of leading countries which export dairy products, whereas India is the largest milk producing country in the world. Indian dairy sector contributes a major share towards the total gross revenue from livestock sector and holds an enormous potential to bring about rapid economic growth, particularly for the benefit of the weaker sections and the rural poor. Livestock production has been, and will remain for many decades, one of the most important economic and social activities of human culture in developing countries where hundreds of millions of people depend either directly or indirectly on livestock-based activities (Preston and Murugueitio 1992).
Answer:
The dairy industry represents around 18% of the gross agricultural output of the UK, and dairy farmers are an important and sizeable part of the National Farmers Union NFU’s farming membership. Dairy farmers have endured difficult times in recent years, notably with regard to farm gate profitability. Soaring prices on the world dairy commodity markets in 2007 resulted in rises in farm gate prices, totaling an average increase of 8ppl by the autumn. This has created optimism in the dairy industry and allowed most farmers to start breaking into a profit. However, there are ten years of underinvestment and debt to make up for and farmers now need a sustained period of higher prices to enable some long-overdue investments in their businesses. While the outlook of the British dairy industry is broadly positive, the confidence of dairy farmers remains fragile. Production costs have risen massively in the last twelve months. Higher feed, fertilizer and fuel costs are eroding the benefits of higher prices. In addition to this are the substantial infrastructure costs that dairy farmers face under the proposed revisions to the NVZ (Nitrate Vulnerable Zones) Action Program. With these issues in mind, this document provides a background briefing to the dairy farming sector and looks at the future challenges and prospects.