Japan: Dairy Industry Announces Calf Import Subsidy

J-Milk announced a three-year, $1.4 million program to reduce the cost of imported replacement dairy cattle. Sharp increases in Japanese beef feeder calf prices since 2013 have expanded utilization of Wagyu genetics in Japanese dairy breeding programs, contributing to a seven percent year-on-year decline in the national stock of heifers less than two years of age in 2016 (see FAS/Tokyo’s October 2016 Dairy and Products Annual Report JA6045). Average live cattle auction prices for first-bred heifers in Japan’s largest dairy producing region have risen 60 percent over the last twenty-four months.

Japan: Dairy Industry Announces Calf Import Subsidy