Dairy co-op Arla has opened its first state-of-the-art dairy farm in Kaduna State in Nigeria.

There, the Danish-designed dairy farm will be the first of its kind in the country and will milk 400 cows, with 1000 animals in total. Covering 400 ha, the farm currently has 216 Danish Holstein cows which arrived last month and plans to build numbers up to the max level.

The Scottish Farmer: A new state of the art dairy has been built by Arla in NigeriaA new state of the art dairy has been built by Arla in Nigeria

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State governor, El-Rufai, described the new dairy farm as a significant milestone and game-changer for the dairy sector in Nigeria, commending the management of Arla Foods for having faith and confidence in Nigeria and the Kaduna State Government.

Arla Foods’ International EVP, Simon Stevens, said: “This milestone symbolises what can be achieved with strong partnerships. We can see how the contribution of the Kaduna State Government, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, NGOs, the farming community and many more have helped to deliver a big project.

The Scottish Farmer: A new state of the art dairy has been built by Arla in NigeriaA new state of the art dairy has been built by Arla in Nigeria

“This achievement symbolises the massive potential we see in Nigeria and the exciting journey this country is on. We have been part of this journey for quite some time and are committed to continuing to play a part and contribute to the development of the dairy industry.”

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Mr Stevens added that the farm, delivered at an investment cost of €10m, would serve as a place of milk production and an epicentre of dairy farming knowledge.

More than 40 people will be directly employed at the farm, with expected milk production of 1.6m kg in 2024 with a target of 4m kg of annual milk production when running at its target herd size.