Japan dairy producers hit by weak yen at a time of high demand

Tokyo

JAPAN'S dairy producers and cake lovers just can't seem to catch a break.

A weakening yen is making it more expensive for farmers to import the US corn their cows eat at a time when record crops have reduced livestock-feeding costs around the world. And while Japanese milk demand is increasing and prices of some dairy products are at record highs, domestic production is the lowest in three decades even as rising output everywhere else creates a global surplus.