1. United States California, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania are the major milk producing states in the U.S. In the U.S., many of the larger dairy farms have over 15,000 cows. In addition to the large domestic demand for cheese, milk, and other dairy products, the United States exports large quantities of milk and dairy products to many countries around the world.
2. India In 2014-15, India's milk production increased significantly. Today, India accounts for 9.5% of global milk production. Effective planning and scientific methods have played an important role in increasing milk production, and the country is also the largest consumer of milk, which it exports to many countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Bhutan, and also Afghanistan.
3. China This Asian country is in the third place in terms of milk production from cows. It exports milk to only a few Asian countries and is currently investing heavily in building 100,000 cow breeding farms in order to export milk to Russia, which has decided to stop importing milk from EU countries to a large extent.
4. Brazil Although Brazil has been a net importer of dairy products in the past, the country has become one of the highest producers of milk from dairy cows. Brazilian government support and low production costs are some of the key reasons for the growth in production, in addition to the importance of the dairy sector to its overall economy.
5. Germany With over 4.2 million dairy cows, Germany is the top milk producer in the European Union and the fifth largest in the world. East and West Germany also account for a large percentage of Germany's dairy milk production, however, some of the challenges facing German dairy farmers are rising land prices and shortages of qualified produce.
6. Russia Despite the fact that traditional dairy technologies are still in use and the number of cows is decreasing, Russia still ranks sixth in global milk production from dairy cows. Milk production has remained stable over the past few years. Russian investors are also investing in the construction of China's largest dairy farm to meet the growing domestic demand for dairy cows.
7. France The dairy industry is very important in France, which is the second largest milk producer in Europe, after neighboring Germany. It has over 3.6 million cows and a wide variety of dairy processing facilities. Most of the milk produced is converted into dairy products, such as cheese and milk powder.
8. New Zealand This island nation has about 5 million dairy cows,[bai] and the average herd size is steadily growing. The country exports mainly dairy products such as milk powder, butter, cheese and cream to the rest of the world, and New Zealand is making a conscious effort to improve its dairy agriculture sector in the wake of impending climate change, using new technologies and efficient use of resources.
9. Turkey Turkey's dairy farms are smaller than many other parts of the world, but milk production from Turkish cows has increased over the past few years, with higher production and cow numbers being the main reasons for the steady growth, and Turkey exports milk mainly to the European Union.
10. England In the United Kingdom, dairy farming has been a top priority for many years, and today cows there are dedicated to producing large quantities of milk. However, the greatest concern is that in the United Kingdom, the number of cows is steadily declining, with the number of dairy producers registered within its borders declining by 61 percent.
