A dairy farm raises animals for their milk, with cows being the most common. Modern dairies use pasteurization, refrigeration and milking machines to produce large volumes of milk. Small farms may produce dairy products for local markets.
A dairy is an agricultural structure dedicated to the breeding and maintenance of animals raised for their milk. Classically, a dairy farm houses cows, but it is also possible to raise goats, sheep, yaks and other animals for their milk. The objective of a dairy company is to produce large volumes of good quality and safe milk and milk products and to export them to the surrounding region.
Humans have raised animals for their milk for centuries, but dairy didn’t catch on in a big way until people figured out how to handle milk safely. Historically, many communities had a few dairy animals that were managed and driven in common, and establishments such as abbeys could keep animals for the purpose of making cheese and other goods for sale. Individual farmers and landowners generally made their own milk and cheese as needed from their cows, sheep and other livestock.
With the advent of storage tanks, pasteurization, refrigeration, and roads accessible to milk trucks in the 1800s, the modern dairy began to evolve. Most dairy farms today have large numbers of animals, hundreds or thousands as opposed to the dozens found on small farms in the early 20th century, and produce huge volumes of milk.
The farm includes pasture and shelter for the animals, as well as areas for sheltering the cows during work and calving. Farms usually keep a bull on hand or order semen for artificial insemination to gain access to especially good bloodlines, and also have a facility known as a milking parlour, where the cows are milked. Historically, this was done by hand, but modern milking parlors usually use milking machines. The milk is transported in sterile tubes to the tanks so it can be tested for pathogens before being collected on a milk truck. The milk truck brings the milk to a central location for processing.
A dairy farm may also have fields for the purpose of growing fodder, to reduce costs for the business. Farms can also be found that serve special markets such as people looking for organic produce.
Small farms can produce cheese, butter, yogurt, clotted cream and other dairy products to sell in the community. This requires special skills and additional licensing and inspections, leading many farmers to prefer to sell their milk to dairy cooperatives or specific producers of products such as cheese rather than manage it themselves. When consumers in the store buy Brand X Milk, they usually buy milk from a large number of farmers who sell their milk to Milk Company X, rather than milk from cows belonging to that particular brand.
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