World's Largest Dairy Farm... in Saudi Arabia of course.

(Until about 35 years ago fresh milk was imported from Europe or people drnk powdered milk.)

Established in 1979, Al Safi Dairy has the largest single integrated dairy farm in the world that covers 3,500 hectares of land, has a herd of 37,000 Holstein cattle, and is the supplier of high-quality milk to Al Safi Danone.

Over the past 30 years, Al Safi Dairy has been investing in research and development and state of the art technologies of dairy farming and green forage production. The company has developed its own proprietary dairy farming know-how and methodologies. This has made the company a global bench-mark for efficient production of high quality milk.

Over the years, Al Safi has achieved fast growth rates with excellent environmental protection programs and support to local communities.

Product Range

High quality milk supplied to Al Safi Danone Company for processing, marketing, and distribution daily as fresh, natural and healthy products.
High quality green forage for cattle feeding.

http://www.alfaisaliah.com/index.asp?id=125

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ monthly newsletter informs slightly incredulous readers that the largest dairy farm in the world is in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, it is over twice as large as the largest American equivalent.

Stuck in the middle of the desert with 37,000 cows, the farm uses cooling water AC to keep the cows at a pleasant temperature.

http://thegulfblog.com/2010/04/23/largest-dairy-farm-in-world-in-ksa-of-course/

 

Fyi.............

 

I wonder if Saudi Arabia is going to be able to continue to maintain all these marvelous economic wonders when its oil money drys up.
Saudi Arabia is a barren desert, and the only reason they are able to make it so productive is because of all the Western money they are getting.
They also have an efficient system in place to ensure that, in the long term, their standard of living is not brought down by all the hoards of immigrant labour they have imported. Immigrants and any children they may have are denied Saudi citizenship and treated as second class citizens. Perhaps America could learn a lesson from the Saudis.

 

I wonder what they are going to do when the water drys up. They are drilling a mile down for it now.

 

Actually they have build 50 deslaination plants and many dams to capture rainwater.. Like this:

 

Thats pretty cool.. I wish them the best.

I have nothing but respect for people that practice agriculture in harsh environments.

I am curious about how they irrigate...above ground or underground.

 

Drip irrigation for the most part.

Some of the dams they have built are re-charge dams.

 

Subsurface drip irrigation seems to be the best way to go. That way the water goes in the ground and not the air.

From what little I have read they know what they are doing.

 

They are doing a lot of stuff.. aeroponics, hydroponics.. They grow all sorts of stuff now.

 

I like farming in dirt. All the "ponics" (to me) are a pain in the backside. The solutions have to be just right and there is no room for mistakes.

The taste of a hydroponic tomato (once again to me) is like eating water.

 

Saudi Arabia now grows melons and mangoes, all sorts of produce like squash, onions, cucumbers.. .. dates of course.. grapes for export and domestic consumption... citrus, pomegranate, figs.. and the lushest herbs you have ever seen.

 

http://www.sudantribune.com/Saudi-Arabia-gets-two-million,42186

Saudi Arabia gets two million acres from Sudan for tax-free farming

 

October 17, 2012, 7:01 p.m. ET.Saudi Dairy Is Pushing Tech to the Limit
To Keep Cattle Clean and Cool, Almarai Automates Each Moment, Using Water-Jet Sprays, Misters and Fans

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443294904578046460194810002.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Excerpt:

Under the shade of metal-topped open-sided sheds, 67,000 black-and-white splotched Holstein-Friesians owned by Saudi Arabia-based Almarai Co. mill about, poking their noses in search of stray feed or lying down, staring out at the sand.

Making a dairy successful in one of the hottest spots on earth—where, at natural temperatures, milk production would plummet, dairy products would spoil and dangerous bacteria would breed—requires pushing technology to the limit, Almarai managers and U.S. dairy experts say.

Holstein-Friesians are high-yield dairy cattle by nature. But keeping them producing when summer temperatures top 120 degrees entails keeping them cool, comfortable and clean. Only by automating each moment can Almarai run one of the world's largest dairies—135,000 head of cattle in all, including those too young to milk—in a desert that's all palm trees and no pasture.

 

My interest in this subject dates to the late 1970s .. as well as progress and innovations since.

The subject coming soon will be Super Farms and how they can be managed safely and humanely.

 

Fyi.............

 

Margot- how are they dealing with the run off issue? One of the biggest problems with large dairy operations is the large amounts of fecal runoff.

Are they doing anything to reclaim the methane?

 

I don't know about Methane, but the cows stand on slotted floors.. The manure falls thru and is mixed with water and is piped away to feed pasture.

Today's news is all about Super Farms.. Lots of interesting articles.

 

Al Safi Dairy Methane Recovery Project | Carbon Project | eCO2data


eco2data.com/.../Al-Safi-Dairy-Methane-Recovery-Project-56...Share



Al Safi Dairy Methane Recovery Project. Technology. CH4 Avoidance. Industrial Processes. Industrial Processes | CH4 Avoidance. Country. Saudi Arabia.

They are doing something with methane recovery.. I just can't access the website.

 

http://www.icdf.org.tw/web_pub/20020702140316aquasaudi.pdf

Currently there are 125 aquaculture farms in
Saudi Arabia, 56 of which are fully operational,
producing marketable tilapia (an African freshwater
fish genus which has proven to be extremely valuable
in aquaculture development) and shrimp.

There are two
large freshwater farms, in Qassim and in Dammam,
and two large shrimp farms on the Red Sea coast (the
10-square-kilometer Red Sea Shrimp Farm produces
over 1,500 metric tons of shrimp annually). Aquaculture
constituted 10 percent of fish production in Saudi Arabia
in 2000 (up from only 0.1 percent in 1986), with shrimp
farming considered the most successful aquaculture
sector. Figures released by the Saudi Ministry of
Agriculture and Water show a notable increase in farm
production between 1988 and 1998, with aquaculture
farm production increasing from 331 metric tons to
5,040 metric tons (see Table 1 below).
Commercial aquaculture began in Saudi Arabia in
1983, with the establishment of the nation’s first fish
farm at Qassim. Tilapia were introduced from Kenya
in 1977, and 150 brood (for reproduction purposes) and
1,800 fry (for production purposes) were shipped from
Taiwan in the early 1980s.

 

Thanks for all of the information Margot- glad to know that the Saudi's are putting their money into post petrol projects.

 

Me too.. I think its so exciting that they are growing apricots, peanuts, okra.. and building up these high tech fully integrated farms.

I don't know about post petrol.. They just discovered a huge oil and gas field off of Port Duba north of Jiddah.

 

Desalination plants consume a lot of energy. The vast majority of these plants are not solar powered, you know. I wonder how environmentalists feel about giving so much Western money to another country so they can wastefully desalinise water.

There are new technologies being developed that are more efficient. It might be some time though before the saudis catch on.
http://www.pca-gmbh.com/appli/ed.htm

 

LOLOL.. Saudi deslalination plants also produce cheap electricity as a by-product...

They have been building them since 1960.

The Jubail Desalination Plant in Saudi Arabia is the world's largest desalination plant, and it uses electrodialysis. The plant cost an estimated $3.8 billion.

 

I think it is a good thing that the Saudi desert is being used for agriculture and in a situation where the lack of rain is a major problem large farms are a good thing.

But here in the States I would rather see smaller farms prosper just to keep the big guys honest.

 

Family farms? Yes... but the coming debate world wide will be about fully integrated super farms.