DAIRY FARMING

DAIRY FARMING

Dairy farming involves raising cattle to produce milk. Milk is also produced for butter and for making cheese. Many of the world's well-known breeds of dairy cows come from Western Europe, especially Britain, the Neth­erlands and Switzerland. The Ayrshire is white or red, or mixed in colour and has long, sharp-pointed horns. The Guernsey and Alderney, first bred on the isles of Guernsey and Alderney in the Channel Islands, off the coast of north­west France, have spots and patches of various shades on their coats, but are dominantly white, especially on the legs. The Jersey cow is the smallest of the dairy breeds and its milk has an extremely high content of butter fat. The Friesian (also called Holstein) is characteristically black-and­
white, and is the largest of the dairy breeds and a heavy' grazer - First bred in the low-lying polders of the north­west Netherlands, it is now common in the temperate latitudes. Its milk yield is the highest among dairy cattle. The Swiss Brown is another famous breed whose milk is used in the chocolates of Switzerland.

The most extensive and productive dairying areas are in Western Europe, the USA and the temperate parts of the southern continents. The Baltic States, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan are also dairying areas. Dairying is impor­tant in Japan and South Korea. The Netherlands is the
leading exporter of condensed and powdered milk. The lea(~ing exporter of butter is New Zealand.