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Danish Dairy Industry Exports of dairy products account for more than 20 percent of all Danish agricultural exports. The Danish dairy industry consists of the international dairy group Arla Foods and 30 smaller dairy companies, together processing 4.7 billion kg milk from a total of 61 production plants in Denmark. The value of all Danish dairy exports totals EUR 1.8 billion annually. The domestic market is, to a large extent, a market for domestic dairy production, although imported cheese and yoghurt now account for approx. 25 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of total domestic consumption. The market share of foreign milk remains moderate. Like the processing sector, the Danish milk producers have seen tremendous structural change, with production now taking place on a small number of large farms. In 2010, approx. 4,100 dairy farmers each had an average of 127 cows and a milk quota of 1,142 tonnes. This places the Danish dairy farmers among the largest and most modern in Europe. More than half the cows live in new loose-housing systems. Exports of dairy products, in particular cheese, preserved milk products and butter, account for more than 20 percent of all Danish agricultural exports. The largest market for Danish dairy products is the other EU countries. Maintaining milk yield during a cow’s lactation period typically requires a cow to be milked twice a day – with maximum time spacing between milking. This means that all of a farmer’s activities must be scheduled around the milking process on the farm. These milking routines put restrictions on time management and also the personal life of the individual farmer, as he is committed to milking in the early morning and in the evening seven days a week - regardless of personal health, family responsibilities or social schedule. By choosing automated processes, including robotic milking arms and voluntary milking, the farmer frees up time from the tedious and tightly scheduled task of milking and is able to concentrate on other areas of his business, like field work, taking care of equipment, reproduction, calving, handling sick cows or simply spending more time with family. On larger dairy farms, the quantity of hired labour and their management is reduced and on the family farms, robotic milking brings flexibility and increased quality of life. In addition, farmers state that milking high yield cows more often (in a voluntary milking system) and on a regular basis improves udder health and lifetime production and thereby impacts farm profitability. There are various studies that support a 20-30% reduction in labour for milking-related activities when switching to robotic miking. A milking robot will do the same job, day in and day out, and will always be on time. Irrespective of size, it comes down to being more efficient and getting more done in less time. Story: Sumit Bhattacharjee Camera: Nandan Paul Editing: Supriyo Banerjee