Milking the Saudi sands

• Saudi Arabian dairy has become one of the biggest in the region
• Almarai began as a small farm in 1970s with 300 cows
• Critics point to high use of water and depletion of ancient underground water reserves

Established with the help of Irish agribusiness pioneers Alastair and Paddy McGlucklin in 1977, Almarai began modestly with just 300 head of cattle as part of a Saudi push to achieve food security through self-sufficiency -- a government response to the oil shocks of the 1970s.
40 years later and the company is a diversified regional giant selling juices, poultry, baked products and infant formula.

                      

With a total herd of 135,000 dairy cattle, Almarai's installation at Al Kharj 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the capital Riyadh, houses one of its largest herds of 67,000. The company's statistics are staggering: the entire herd produces 2.5 million liters of milk a day -- an average of 40 liters per cow per day roughly double the European average.

Technology to beat the heat
The secret to making a dairy successful in one of the world's most arid environments is to apply technology -- and a lot of it. At normal desert temperatures that can reach as high 50 degrees Celsius, milk production would normally plummet, the produce would spoil quickly and dangerous bacteria would form. However, every step of the process of keeping the Holstein milking cows at a perfect temperature of between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius (70 and 73 degrees Fahrenheit) is automated.
Overhead misters in the open-sided sheds that house the herds send out clouds of moisture that wet the flanks of the herd to keep them cool. Fans also keep them dry and prevent puddles from forming.
As well as computers that monitor the temperature and humidity in the installations, workers put the cattle through stationary water jets - a process that ensures the milk is not contaminated with manure - before the cattle are milked four times daily.

After the cows are milked, the mega-factory goes through the process of pasteurizing the dairy products, bottling and packaging it. Almarai's fleet of 1,000 refrigerated tankers then deliver it to 55,000 stores in six Gulf nations.

Saudi is not the only Gulf State to have automated its milk production. In the nearby United Arab Emirates, the Al Ain Dairy Farm, the largest in the UAE and a competitor to Almarai, has per cow yields at 10,000 liters a year, almost the equal of Almarai's 12,400 liters a year. However, critics warn that the high yields of Almarai and other Gulf dairies carry a cost. Seen from Google Earth, the irrigation pivots of Al Kharj stand out like green crop circles in the rocky brown of the desert. Just 40 years ago, Saudi Arabia's underground store of fossil water was estimated at 500 cubic kilometers, enough to fill Lake Erie, according to a report published by University of London SOAS.


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