Global Dairy Developments - An Overview on Milk Prices and Milk Production Costs World Wide

Recent years have been marked by very volatile milk and feed prices, which imposes a challenge on dairy farming. The costs to produce milk differ significantly from country to country though, and depending on the farming and feeding systems farmers are facing, fluctuating dairy margins. From 2000 to 2012, cost of milk production increased in all countries analyzed by the IFCN (International Farm Comparison Network), where especially in China, cost of milk production was estimated 50% above the level in US and Germany due to high salaries and an appreciation of the currency. This emphasizes the importance of annual benchmarking as part of a strategic dairy development and milk sourcing to have an eye on the competitiveness on a global and local level of a country.