Editing User:Raven/ignore me (section)

=== Dairy ===

{{main|Dairy cattle|Dairy product}}

Certain breeds of cattle, such as the [[Holstein-Friesian]], are used to produce [[milk]],<ref name=ukcows>{{Cite web |url=http://ukcows.com/holsteinUK/publicweb/Education/HUK_Edu_DairyCows.aspx?cmh=66 |title=UK Dairy Cows |access-date=7 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518064015/http://ukcows.com/holsteinUK/publicweb/Education/HUK_Edu_DairyCows.aspx?cmh=66 |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}</ref><ref name="CIWF 2015"/> much of which is processed into [[dairy product]]s such as [[butter]], [[cheese]], and [[yogurt]]. Dairy cattle are usually kept on specialized dairy farms designed for milk production. Most cows are milked twice per day, with milk processed at a dairy, which may be onsite at the farm or the milk may be shipped to a dairy plant for eventual sale of a dairy product.<ref name="dairy science">{{Cite journal |url=http://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302%2879%2983526-2/abstract |title=Milking 3 Times per day |journal=[[Journal of Dairy Science]] |volume=62 |issue=12 |pages=1941–1950 |doi=10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(79)83526-2 |pmid=541464 |year=1979 |last1=Pearson |first1=R.E. |last2=Fulton |first2=L.A. |last3=Thompson |first3=P.D. |last4=Smith |first4=J.W. |doi-access=free}}</ref> Lactation is induced in heifers and spayed cows by a combination of physical and psychological stimulation, by drugs, or by a combination of those methods.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Larry Smith |first1=K. |last2=Schanbacher |first2=F. L. |date=1973-06-01 |title=Hormone Induced Lactation in the Bovine. I. Lactational Performance Following Injections of 17β-Estradiol and Progesterone1 |journal=Journal of Dairy Science |volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=738–743 |doi=10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(73)85243-9 |doi-access=free |pmid=4708130 }}</ref> For mother cows to continue producing milk, they give birth to one calf per year. If the calf is male, it is generally slaughtered at a young age to produce [[veal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/veal-calves/ |title=About calves reared for veal |access-date=9 May 2015 |website=[[Compassion in World Farming]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518074915/http://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/veal-calves/ |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}</ref> Cows produce milk until three weeks before birth.<ref name="CIWF 2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/dairy-cows/ |title=Compassion in World Farming: Dairy Cattle |access-date=7 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518074913/http://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/dairy-cows/ |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}</ref> Over the last fifty years, dairy farming has become more intensive to increase the yield of milk produced by each cow. The [[Holstein-Friesian]] is the breed of dairy cow most common in the UK, Europe and the United States. It has been bred selectively to produce the highest yields of milk of any cow. The average in the UK is around 22 litres per day.<ref name=ukcows/><ref name="CIWF 2015"/>

Dairy is a large industry worldwide. In 2023, the 27 European Union countries produced 143 million tons of cow's milk; the United States 104.1 million tons; and India 99.5 million tons.<ref>{{cite web |title=Major producers of cow milk worldwide in 2023, by country |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/268191/cow-milk-production-worldwide-top-producers/ |website=Statista |access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> India further produces 94.4 million tons of [[buffalo milk]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Buffalo Milk |url=https://www.tridge.com/intelligences/buffalo-milk/production |website=Tridge |access-date=14 February 2024 |quote=FAO Code: 0951 - Raw milk of buffalo}}</ref> making it (in 2023) the world's largest milk producer; its dairy industry employs some 80 million people.<ref>{{cite web |title=India Largest Producer of Milk in the World |url=https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1929183 |publisher=Press Information Bureau, Government of India |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=1 June 2023}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=220 heights=220>
File:Cow female black white.jpg|[[Holstein Friesian cattle|Holstein cattle]] are the primary dairy breed, bred for high milk production.
File:Hand milking a cow at Cobbes Farm Museum.jpg|The milking of cattle was once largely by hand. Demonstration at [[Cogges Manor Farm]], Oxfordshire
File:2014-07-25 Melkkarussel - Hemme Milch (5).jpg|A modern rotary [[Milking machine|milking parlour]], Germany
</gallery>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=440 heights=220 caption="[[FAO]] data for 2021">
File:World Production Of Bovine Milk.svg|World production of bovine milk (cow + buffalo)
</gallery>