China's Dairy

choi

Alex Frangos, China Grows Its Dairy Farms With a Global Cattle Drive. Wall Street Journal, Apr 23, 2012 (front page).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 81302732745814.html

(a) Excerpt in the window of print: Since 2009, China has become the world's most important buyer of dairy cows.

(b) Quote:

"China has imported nearly 250,000 live heifers, or cows that haven't yet reproduced, since 2009, according to data tracker Global Trade Information Services. Last year it spent more than $250 million on 100,000 foreign heifers, about 25 ships worth.

According to Modern Dairy CEO Gao Lina: "The government provided the land and gave 3,000 yuan ($475) per cow. As an agricultural producer, the company pays no income taxes.

"Chinese on average drink about 2.5 gallons of liquid milk a year, less than a third as much as Japanese and South Koreans, and far behind the 20.8 gallons drunk in the U.S., according to the International Dairy Federation, a Brussels-based trade group.

"China's 12 million cows are generally poor producers. * * *  are prone to illness and have short lives. Chinese cows, imported from Europe decades ago but never scientifically bred, produce on average four tons of milk a year, compared with nine tons for American cows.

Modern Dairy founder Deng Jiuqiang toured US dairy farms. "He was most impressed that Americans had figured out how to densely pack cows into sheds. 'You don't have to own lots of land, and you can be more efficient,' he said. China's high population density limits grazing land. Grazed cows, like those in Australia and New Zealand, produce less milk than those confined to sheds, where feeding is controlled.

"Modern Dairy impregnates the immigrant heifers [from Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay] exclusively with American bull semen * ** America also sends [high-protein alfalfa to China]


(c) Note:
(i) Feidong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feidong_County
(ii) China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd
http://www.moderndairyir.com/en/index.htm
(iii) For "Mueller Milch," see Müller (company)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Müller_(company)
(Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller (often called Müllermilch or simply Müller) is a multinational producer of dairy products, with a headquarters in Fischach in the German state of Bavaria)

(A) The company's website is written in German, so I have to point you to the website of its UK office. Click "About us," and one reach its history.

* A Potted History of the Müller Dairy; Discover where your favourite yogurts started.
http://www.mullerdairy.co.uk/about-us/history/early-days
("When yogurt-loving Ludwig Müller first established his little Bavarian village dairy back in 1896, he could scarcely have imagined the staggering success it was to become. Today his grandson Theo runs a hugely successful business, making it possible for people across Europe to enjoy the great taste of Müller")

* potted (adj): "preserved in a pot, jar, or can <potted meat>"
www.m-w.com

The web page uses "potted" to allude to its yogurt sold in a "pot." (Americans call it a "tub"--the same as that holds butter.)

(B) The "milch" is German noun for "milk."

(iv)
(A) Fonterra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonterra
(a dairy co-operative owned by almost 10,500 New Zealand farmers; responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports; New Zealand's largest company; Fonterra was formed in 2001 from the merger of the two largest co-operatives; headquarters  Auckland)
(B)
* About Fonterra. Fonterra, undated
http://www.fonterra.com/wps/wcm/ ... a5b86c697a9c2d85acf
("Fonterra’s name means ‘spring from the land’")

There is no need to open this large pdf file.
* Douglas J Peckenpaugh, Grand Designs on Dairy. Food Product Design, Feb 22, 2010 (blog)
http://www.foodproductdesign.com ... signs-on-dairy.aspx
("thus the company’s Latin-inspired name, font terra, or 'spring from the land'”).

(v) Victoria (Australia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(Australia)
9Geographically the smallest mainland state; Australia's most densely populated state; Melbourne, the state capital and largest city)
(vi)
(A) The KiwiCross Breed. The encyclopedia of New Zealand, undated
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/dairying-and-dairy-products/6/3
("KiwiCross cows were bred in New Zealand by crossing Friesian-Holsteins with Jersey cows, to produce an animal midway in size between the two parents and with the advantages of both")
(B) Chap 39 Breeds of Dairy Cattle, in James R Gillespie and Frank B Flanders, Modern Livestock and Poultry Production (8th ed). Delmar, Cengage Learning, 2010, at p 741
http://books.google.com/books?id ... page&q=holstein friesian origin german&f=false
("Holstein-Friesian  History[:] The Holstein-Friesian breed originated in the Netherlands (Figure 39-13). Development occurred in the nothern province of Friesland and in nearby northern Germany. It is not known when they became a distinct breed. It is believed that selection and breeding that resulted in the Holstein-Friesian breed started about 2,000 years ago")

* Holstein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holstein
(the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider; part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany; Holstein's name comes from the Holcetae, a Saxon tribe--[t]he name means "dwellers in the wood")

The last map of the Wiki page identifies Holstein (yellow) and the two boundary rivers.
(C) Jersey cattle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_cattle
(a breed of small dairy cattle; originally bred in the Channel Island of Jersey)

(vii) slug (n): "a lump, disk, or cylinder of material (as plastic or metal)"
(viii) stockman (n): "one occupied as an owner or worker in the raising of livestock (as cattle or sheep)"
(ix) The report states that after heifers are imported into China, "[t]hey are artificially inseminated to produce a calf and start their milk production."

Dairying. Encyclopaedia Britannica, undated
http://www.britannica.com/EBchec ... ng?anchor=ref558846
("The development of milk-producing tissue in the mammae is triggered by conception; minimal production begins in the seventh or eighth week, but secretion is inhibited until after calving. The stimulus of calving increases lactation for several weeks, until another conception prompts a gradual decline. In response to pregnancy hormones and the needs of the fetus, the animal is usually dry for the month or two preceding calving")

(x) Andrea Bocelli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bocelli
(1958- ; an Italian tenor)