Dairy cow numbers have increased from 496,000 in 1991 to 552,000 in 1994. Beef cattle increased from 1,773,000 to approximately 2,400,000 during the same period. Korean agriculture lags behind the general economy because of high costs. Farmland is very expensive and pasture land is limited. As the general economy grows, there will be more pressure to develop farmland.
Labor costs are high and labor is becoming unionized.
Imported grains and forages are also very expensive. These high costs are driving efficiencies and the pursuit of higher productivity. Rice is the most important crop in Korea. Rice, as well as various vegetable and fruit crops, produce more income than forages. Rice straw has become a major forage roughage.