Dairy

A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk (mostly from cows, sometimes from buffaloes, sheep or goats) for human consumption. The end product of such processes are known as dairy products. In Australia a dairy is also a shop or company that sells dairy products. In New Zealand a dairy is a shop selling convenience-food products. A dairy farm produces milk and a dairy factory processes it. Over the years, Dairy has become a multibillion-dollar industry.

Considerations of size

In countries where small numbers of cows are kept the number of products made from milk are limited—often to as few as two— and disposal of unusable residuals is a problem. But where large herds are common, say more than 50 cows, the economics of making as many products as possible at a central factory is important. Modern milk-processing factories can make as many as 30 different products from milk, leaving no waste and are able to choose what to make depending on the price of any product combination at any time.

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