There are a total of 86,000 animals cared for around the clock by a staff of 8,000. Each of the 50,000 dairy cows are milked twice each day and produces a total of 12,400 litres of milk each year that is used to make 14 different dairy products. There are 1,000 trucks from the dairy that delivery to 34,000 customers throughout the Gulf region.

The cows feed on corn, hay, grist and molasses as well as a mixture of minerals and additives. The water is pumped out of deep wells from two kilometres below the surface and cooled in 15-metre high cooling towers. The cows are housed in air conditioned stalls, which are on a number of farms that make up the giant dairy of the “Al Safi“ group.

Compared to this giant dairy production in saudi Arabia, even the largest of the farms such as the “Tauste Ganadera“ in the Spanish province of Saragossa with its 3,600 cows (of which 1,700 are dairy cows) appear to be tiny. The New Zealand diary producer Fonterra is currently building a farm in China – where there will one day be 5,00 dairy cows.