FACTORS INFLUENCING MILK PRODUCTION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF KEY DRIVERS AND TRENDS

Abstract

– In recent years, global warming associated climate change has led to sustained economic losses in US$ $ billions to dairy sector, globally. It is estimated that by 2050’s the United States dairy industry alone will suffer more than $1.7 billion loss. As human dependency on animal products for nutrition is increasing, the urgency to maximize production is even greater. With the booming human population, there’s additional constraint on available natural resources. High yielding animals are already under tremendous pressure making them more susceptible to adverse climatic conditions. When exposed to heat stress or lack of adequate nutrition livestock substantially decrease milk, meat or egg production. While, most of the researchers attempted to evaluate the impact of heat stress or other factors at a regional level, the impact of global warming, its interactions with other variables transiting dairying are yet to be clearly comprehended on a global scale. So, this exploratory study evaluated the effect of climate change, other key drivers and their interaction on milk production. Our results from hierarchical regression analyses have revealed that, environmental temperature, land availability and milk yield were the key factors influencing the milk production and dairy enterprise in turn.