BEIJING — China has come to crave milk. Demand that had been steadily growing has spiked further after doctors touted its health benefits amid the coronavirus pandemic and dairy firms across the country have embarked on a farm-building frenzy.
But quenching that thirst will be problematic, not least because finding the millions more cows needed for planned new and expanded farms will be challenging.
China is the world’s third-largest milk producer, but last year’s 34 million tonnes of output only met about 70% of domestic needs. Complicating matters are feed costs at multi-year highs, while land and water are also in short supply, making the country a costly place to…
Keep on reading: China seeks to milk the milk market but doesn’t have enough cows