In Hokkaido, there are some districts specialized in dairy, that are the dairy regions of Tenpoku, konsen & littoral Tokachi, suburbs of Sapporo, eastern part of Eburi and yakumo. While the dairy regions in Ishikari plain and peninsula district were formed before the World War II, the dairy regions of northern and eastern parts of Hokkaido were formed after the war. The latter dairy regions changed into the dairy regions to keep away from a damage of cool temperature in summer, though the farmers of those regions have once attempted to carry on a mixed farming or a grain farming growing cereals and beans. Accumulated temperature (June to September) in this regions is below 2, 100°C. Especially in the littoral part of konsen district it is low, that is below 2, 000°C. The region changed intothe dairy region since 1933, because the farmers in this region were stimulated by the damage of cool summer in the previous year. Another conditions of hindrance for grain farming are that of bad soils such as peat bog, volcanic ashes and heavy clay. In the dairy regions of Ishikari plain and peninsula district, the conditions of soil are bad rather than the climatic conditions, therefore grain farming did not successfully developed there. These dairy regions where are most advanced districts in dairy of Hokkaido, have many breeders who were engaged in the breeding of cattle. And in this regions many young men living in some dairy farms practise cattle rearing, for the sake of learning of technical method concerned with dairy. The development of dairy in Hokkaido was promoted by many social factors too, for instance execution of the law concerned with promotion of dairy etc. But the formation of dairy regions are limited to some parts of all the intensive dairy regions appointed by government. Therefore we have to recognize valuable significance of geographical conditions for the formation of dairy regions in Hokkaido.
Fig. 1. The ratio of forage crop acreage to total area of fields in cities, towns or villages in Hokkaido (1960), The portions where the ratios is more than 30% have a characteristic of the dairy regions.
Fig. 2. The ratio of number of farms keeping cow more than 5 head which are two or more years old, to total number of farms in cities, towns or villages in Hokkaido (1960). If it were omitted the by-work farms which are concentrated on a job other than farming i.e, the secondary class by-work farms, the ratio become far higher. The portions where the ratio is more than 4% have a characteristic of the dairy regions at present.
Fig. 3-4. The spreading ratio of cow keeping i.e, the ratio of number of farms keeping cow to total number of farms in cities, towns or villages in Hokkaido (1960 and 1950), The portions where the ratio is more than 50% corres pond to the dairy regions. on the map of 1950 (Fig. 4), the portion of high ratio does not yet show localization of dairy region especially in northern and eastern part of Hokkaido,
Fig. 5. The change of the rice yield per 10a and the annual milking puantity per cow in Hokkaido. The rice yield per 10a falls severely many times every poor crop years based on low temperature in summer. The milking quantity per cow does not change so. The decrease of milking quantity before and after Showa 20 (1945) is the effect of the World War II.
Fig. 6. The change of the growing area of potetoes and the numfer of domestic animals in Yakumo Town.
Fig. 7. The land use of M farm in west Shihoro, Tsure villaye, Kushiro province.
