Our farms
Read on to find our about how we care for our cows, and the lengths that we go to to ensure that all our dairy products are of the highest quality when you them in your local supermarket.
Good animal welfare is part of our promise
For Arla’s dairy farmers, animal welfare and sustainable farming go hand in hand. It’s good for the cows, and good for our farmers - healthy cows are happy cows, and happy cows produce both more milk, and milk of a higher quality.
Discover Arlagården
Caring for our cows
Every one of our cows is treated as an individual, and each has a unique ear tag. This means a cow’s feed can be adjusted to fulfil its own needs, and that each cow has its own record of personal information. By keeping our cows clean, dry and well-groomed, we’re doing our best to give them a good life on the farm.
Our cows are in good condition
By keeping our cows clean, dry and well groomed, we're doing our best to give them a good life on the farm.
Good dairy milk requires good feed
Because we want to deliver the tastiest, healthiest milk possible, our farmers give their cows the highest quality food and water - fresh, pure, and tailored to optimise their nutrition every day.
Milk cows on grass
Some of our cows are kept in barns and some graze on grass during the summer. The grazing season is usually between April and November. Lots of factors affect whether cows graze outside, including the location of the pasturegrazing fields and the type of soil around the farm. Fields also need to be close to the milking parlour and the soil should be firm enough for the cows to walk on.
Housed dairy cows
Many of Arla’s dairy cows live in free-stall barns. They are free to walk around between the feeding station, the water trough, the milking parlour and their beds. Just like grazing cows, housed cows lie down for between 10-14 hours day chewing the cud. Arla’s farm quality programme, Arlagården® has detailed requirements that farmers must fulfil to ensure their animals’ welfare. Read more about Arlagården® here.
From the cow to you
The milk from our farmers’ cows is the main ingredient of Arla’s dairy products. We produce hundreds of different dairy products - and whichever Arla product you choose, you can be sure it is packed with the natural, nutritious qualities of our milk.
Calcium packed and full of vitamins
Milk contains many nutrients that your body needs to function properly, feel well and get the most out of life. It can help make you stronger, grow, learn, play and meet your daily challenges – not just as a child, but all throughout your life.
Milk in all our dairy products
Our milk is used in a wide variety of ways and its goodness can be found in every one of our many dairy products.
See our dairy product rangeFood safety and freshness go hand in hand
For us, quality and safety are synonymous with freshness. We monitor the quality of our milk, testing it several times during its journey to you. The results are documented to ensure the consistency of quality, safe products.
As fresh as it gets
Our farmers milk their cows every day. Straight after milking, the milk is cooled to a safe storage temperature on the farm. We then collect the milk from our farms every, or every other day, so when the milk reaches the dairy it is as fresh as it can be.
Arlagården in the UK
Learn about the UK roll-out of Arla's farm assurance programme - Arlagården.
Discover Arlagården in the UK
Our cows and their milk
We can follow any of our cows thanks to their unique ear tag. This allows us to monitor a single cow’s milk production and keep track of the cow’s condition, medical treatment and milk quality, in line with our Arlagarden procedures. We also test our milk after every milking, before refrigerating it, so that it's as fresh as possible when it's collected by the milk tanker.
Transport
We take the milk from our farms to the dairy in milk tankers – most of which are owned by Arla, others are run by contractors. Our drivers are trained in milk quality and hygiene and they check the milk’s temperature, appearance and smell at the farm before loading it onto the tanker.
Read more about transport
Dairies
We transform the milk into dairy products such as cheese, cream, yoghurt and butter at our dairies. We test the milk when it arrives at the dairy, before it is processed, and again before it leaves the dairy. Most Arla dairies are certified to the food safety standard ISO 22000. Those that are not yet certified meet national standards for food safety.
Read more about our dairies