A dairy is a building for the extraction and processing of animal milk (usually from cows) for human consumption. The end product of such processes are known as dairy products.

Historically, the milking and the processing took place in the same location. The development of refrigeration and road transport has meant that most farmers only milk their cows and temporarily store the milk in large refrigerated tanks, which is then transported by truck to central processing facilities.

Milking Sheds

Topics for discussion:

• milking machines
• typical layouts (herringbone, swingover, rotary)
• temporary storage

Processing Facilities

Topics:

• Pasteurization, homogenization
• Cream extraction
• Cheese, butter, yoghurt

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In New Zealand English, a dairy was the name given to a small shop which sold basic grocery staples, milk (and bread and butter) especially. Today it is specifically a small convenience store. A farm is a dairy farm, milking facilities are milking sheds or cow sheds, and processing facilities are dairy factories.