Dairy Farms

• Scotland has 200,000 dairy cows. Over a billion litres of milk are produced worth more than £230 million.
• 2,000 holdings have dairy cattle. 44% of the holdings have more than 100 head of cattle. These holdings have around 73% of the total herd.
• Scotland has approximately 9% of the UK dairy herd. The UK has the third largest dairy herd in the EU after France and Germany, and the largest average herd size.

More than 50% of dairy cows are bred pure to produce replacement heifers. The rest are cross-bred with a variety of beef breeds to produce calves – some of which become breeding cattle in the beef herd.

Dairy farms tend to be concentrated in the south west of the country where grass growth is conducive to high yields.

85% of Scottish dairy farms are members of the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme (NDFAS) which sets strict standards for farm practices.

Milk from Scotland's cows goes into the milk we drink in our tea and coffee or have with our morning cereal, the cheese and yoghurts we have in our fridge as well as many other dairy products.

The learn more about milk production in Scotland, visit the Milk Development Council website on www.mdc.org.uk