In the world of dairy statistics, the answer to the question, "Is the US, the EU or India the world's top milk producer?" The answer is . . . It depends. All can be correct as the answer depends on the dataset and the precise parameters involved with the measurement.
It's the United States (US) if . . . you only look at milk produced from dairy cows. In 2012, dairy cows produced 200 billion pounds of milk. Unlike India, nearly every drop of US milk that leaves the farm comes from dairy cows, goes to processing plants and gets sold to consumers.
It's the European Union (EU) if . . . you look at the entire collection of 27 member countries. While not one of them stands among the world's top five individually, collectively they produce 338 billion pounds of cows' milk compared to the US total of 200 billion. Overall, three of the 27 EU countries account for half (49 percent) of the federation's total milk flow: Germany, 21 percent; France, 18 percent; and the United Kingdom, 10 percent.
It's India if . . . you only look at all milk, which includes milk from water buffaloes. In 2011, India produced 303.1 billion pounds of milk compared to 200 billion in the US. However, roughly 45 percent of India's milk was produced by water buffaloes. That would leave India with about 166.7 billion pounds of milk from cows and other mammals.
So, the correct answer . . . In most situations, this question refers to milk produced by dairy cows. In that case, the US leads all countries in the world for milk produced.
