Summary: Two new large dairy farms have recently started operation in Hohhot City and Ulanqab City of Inner Mongolia.

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is the country's largest dairying region. According to the local department of agriculture and animal husbandry, there were 1.621 million dairy cows in the region, up 9.8% YoY in Q1-Q3 2022, with milk output of 4.32 million tonnes, up 11.3%. It is estimated that by the end of this year, the dairy herd will be over 1.63 million, and the milk output will be 7.2 million tonnes, an increase of 196,000 head and 470,000 tonnes respectively over 2021.

The region's "Nine policy steps for the revitalization of the dairy industry" issued in March indicates that it targets a dairy products output of up to 10 million tonnes by 2025, giving an output value for the whole dairy supply chain of over USD41.62 billion (RMB300 billion).

In line with this, in late Oct., a 15,000-head dairy farm in Togtoh County of Hohhot City started operation, reportedly supplying all its milk to Yili.

Farm Profile

• Location: Togtoh County, Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
• Investor: Inner Mongolia Lixing Ecological Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd.
• Total investment: USD69.4 million (RMB500.0 million), 1% (USD0.69 million/RMB5.0 million) of which is for environmental protection
• Site area: 136.01 ha, including 8.70 ha for silage growing
• Farming scale: 15,000 head - 7,500 milking cows and 7,500 replacement cattle
• Designed total product and annual capacity:
• Raw milk - 80,000 tonnes
• Sale of calves - 1,500 head
• Elimination of replacement cattle - 186  head
• Construction period: April 2021 - April 2023
• Achievements made:
• Since Oct. 2021, this farm has imported 5,425 calves from Austrilia, and 2,000 dairy cattle embryos and 6,000 doses of frozen sex-sorted semen from the US
• At the end of 2021, breeding took place and the first batch of heifer calves was born in Sept. this year with a survival rate of 95%
• It is expected that the farm will have produced 60 tonnes of raw milk in the period from start-up in late Oct. to the end of the year, by when it should have 7,500 head; and will reach full operation with 15,000 head, producing 300 t/d of raw milk and revenue of around USD69.36 million (RMB500 million) by the end of 2024.

Inner Mongolia Lixing Ecological Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. was founded on 28 Oct., 2020 with registered capital of USD4.2 million (RMB30.0 million). It mainly engages in dairy farming and breeding, forage planting, raw milk supply, and organic fertiliser processing and sale.

In early Nov., Liangcheng County Zhoujialing Town Gaonong Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. began operation. It is a dairy farm wholly-owned by Liangcheng County Gaonong Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd.. It was founded in April 2022 with a registered capital of USD6.9 million (RMB50.0 million). Its parent is a largescale animal husbandry firm integrating dairy and fattening cattle farming, forage planting and processing, as well as agricultural tourism.

Farm Profile

• Location: Liangchegn Count, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
• Investor: Liangcheng County Zhoujialing Town Gaonong Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd.
• Total investment: USD91.0 million (RMB655.8 million), 5.17% (USD4.7 million/RMB33.9 million) of which is for environmental protection
• Site & building area: 102.4 ha & 24.3 ha
• Designed full herd size and production: 25,000 dairy cows and raw milk output of 480 t/d or 175.000 t/a
• The 1st phase construction includes introduction of 12,000 cattle (7,200 milking cows, 1,500 dry cows, 1,800 heifers, 1,440 calves) and the construction work has started this May, scheduled to complete in 3 years
• So far this farm has built 3 cow sheds holding 3,096 cows and purchased over 15,000 tonnes of silage corn.

Up to now, there are 35,000+ dairy cattle in Liangcheng County with daily output of raw milk at about 450 tonnes. This county is a quality milk source for both Yili and Mengniu and it is speeding up modernization of the local dairy industry, aiming to reach 100,000 head and a milk output over 1,500 t/d by 2025.