A Study of Dairy Production Recovery in Traditional Areas in U.S.

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K07632
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Agricultural science in rural society and development
• Research Institution: Hirosaki University (2017-2019); Akita Prefectural University (2015-2016)
• Principal Investigator: SATO Kazuko 弘前大学, 農学生命科学部, 准教授 (80294908)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-10-21 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: アメリカ酪農 / 産地移動 / 中小規模農業

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Since the 1980s, the basic trend of dairy farming in the United States has been to move production areas to newer areas, to increase the size of farms, and to specialize in the dairy sector. The realities of production recovery in traditional dairy production areas since the 2000s were clarified.
Large-scale farms have been established in areas where there is an arable land base that can be scaled up, even within traditional production areas, and where milk collection costs can be saved. It is evident that even within traditional production areas, farms that are constrained by scale expansion on slopes and relatively close to cities are seeking to survive through diversifying their income source.

Free Research Field

農業経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

農場の大規模化が進むアメリカにおいて，酪農は従来，傾斜地や比較的都市に近い地域など大規模穀作には向かない地域で発展してきた．1980年代から始まる酪農経営の規模拡大は，カリフォルニア州セントバレーを中心とした新産地への産地移動を伴っていることが既存研究で明らかにされていることである．本研究では，その中で伝統的産地がどのように生き残ろうとしているのかを検討し，規模拡大戦略は限られた地域でしか実現されていないことを明らかにした．
農場の規模拡大と地域の農業発展が両立しないことがアメリカ合衆国でも生じていることを例証した．