Survey Results on the Cluster of Livestock Industries

Survey Results on the Cluster of Livestock Industries

Published: 2016.09.21
Accepted: 2016.09.21
40
Associate professor
College of Agriculture, Ibaraki University, Japan

INTRODUCTION

Japan’s livestock industries, especially dairy, beef and pork industries, are expected to be seriously damaged after the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement comes into effect, because trade boarder measures for them will be abolished or significantly reduced. It is difficult for Japan’s livestock industries to compete, in terms of the production cost, with foreign countries in the New Continent, for example the US and Australia, which are involved countries of the TPP. It is the cluster of livestock industries that is focused on as a way of improving the profitability and the sustainability of Japan’s livestock entities.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the cluster of livestock industries means that “the system for achieving high profitable livestock industries in the whole region by involved businesses including livestock farms which cooperated with each other[1]. The cluster of livestock aims to appropriately establish the social division of labors involved businesses and achieved farm diversification at the level of the whole region. It also aims to produce job opportunities in the rural areas. The Japanese government focuses on it to improve the competitiveness of Japan’s livestock industries, and prepared a big budget 77.4 billion Japanese-yen (7.74 billion US$) as the countermeasure against the TPP in the FY 2015 supplementary budget[2].

In this article, I will summarize and translate a publication of MAFF which shows survey results on the cluster of livestock industries[3]. This is not an official MAFF translation.

 

TRANSLATION

Survey Results on the Cluster of Livestock Industries
 

September 2015

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

 

Establishment of Councils for the Cluster of Livestock Industries

There are 566 councils that have been established throughout Japan. There are many councils in Hokkaido (98), Kyushu (122) and Kanto region (133) (Table 1). Of these, there are 239 councils established in the range of “municipalities” occupying 40%. Both ranges of “prefectures” and “agricultural cooperatives” respectively occupy 20%. “Agricultural cooperatives” and “municipalities” manage three-quarters of the council’s secretariats, because they have already held the system of promotion and the paperwork ability of application for subsidies.

Livestock varieties targeted by councils

Both councils which focus on single variety and multiple varieties respectively occupy half of the council’s numbers. There are 289 dairy councils occupying 51%. “Beef” councils are 314 and occupy 55%. There are 259 councils managing the “breeding” section and 198 councils managing “feeding.” “Pork” compose 151 councils and occupy 27%. “Hens” councils are 113 and occupy 20%. “Chicken” compose of 51 councils occupy 9%.

In Hokkaido, most councils manage feedstuff and occupy 97% of the total councils. Many Kanto councils manage dairy (49%) and breeding councils occupy 60% in Kyushu region (Table 2).

Use of subsidies

Seventy-two of the councils use the project for constructing high profitable-type of livestock (for investigation and experiment), and they occupy 12%. There are 424 councils that use the project for improving profitability of livestock industries (machinery lease), and they occupy 75%. One hundred twelve (112) councils use the project for improving competitiveness of livestock industries (improvement of equipment), and they occupy 20%. It is expected that councils will use experiment (27), machinery lease (166), improvement of equipment (38) and combined-type (machinery and equipment, 198) in FY 2016.

 

Table 1. The number of councils

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