Teaching Ideas
Milk Production – Cow to Cup
An understanding of dairy production and processes can be integrated into many
learning areas of the curriculum. It provides an excellent example of a food
production system and is suitable for Design and Technologies: Food and fibre
production and Humanities and Social Sciences: Geography. This topic is also a
great introduction to exploring the primary and secondary production of dairy
products.
In this teaching idea, students are required to work in groups to investigate the milk
production process. The Dairy Australia website provides easy-to-understand,
succinct information regarding regular farm duties and milk
processing. http://www.dairy.edu.au/discoverdairy/
Some terminology used to describe milk processing include:
Term Definition
Separating A clarifier removes debris, some bacteria, and any
sediment that may be present in the raw milk.
A separator performs the same task, but also
separates the heavier milk fat from the lighter milk
to produce both cream and skim milk.
Pasteurisation The milk is gently heated and then cooled again to
make sure that the milk is germ-free.
Homogenisation The milk is pushed through tiny holes of a
machine which mixes the cream evenly into the
milk.
Cold pressed Cold milk is placed under very high pressure to
destroy germs without changing the taste or
texture.
1. Distribute a copy of the Cow to Cup Activity sheet to each student. Cow to
Cup Fact sheet is also provided for your reference.
2. Explain using the internet or library resources, students are to research the
dairy milk production process.
3. Findings are to be recorded and summarised on the Cow to Cup Activity
sheet.
4. Explain the production process for cow’s milk alternatives are quite different.
Provide examples of alternatives, such as goats’, camels’ and sheep’s milk
and non-dairy alternatives such as soy, almond, oat, coconut.
1
Cow to Cup Facts
Milking: Lactating cows are milked twice a day using milking machines. Some milking
systems rely on the dairy farmer to bring the cows in for milking; others allow the cow to walk
in to be milked when she is ready. Teat cups and milking lines are attached to the cow’s four
teats. The lines are attached to the milking machine that applies a gentle pulsating suction to
draw the milk out.
General design of pipeline milking system
1. Vacuum pump
2. Vacuum pipeline◦
3. Milk cooling tank
4. Milk pipeline
http://dairyprocessinghandbook.com/chapter/primary-production-milk
Storage at the farm: The milk travels via stainless steel pipes to refrigerated vats to be
cooled to 4° Celsius. The milk is tested for freshness and quality before transportation.
Transportation: The milk is transferred from the vats to tankers (trucks with large
refrigerated stainless steel tanks). The tankers transport the milk to the nearest processing
plant so that it can be treated for bacteria, as well as made into other milk and dairy
products. The milk is tested again for freshness, quality and the amount of protein. It is then
pumped into large insulated vats at the plant in preparation for processing. The insulated
vats help to keep the milk cold enough to prevent the milk from deterioration.
Testing: The milk is tested each time it is transferred and regularly during processing. It may
be examined for freshness, correct smell, look, temperature, acidity, protein and fat, other
chemicals and bacteria to make sure it is safe for humans to consume.
http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/a-z-index/lactoperoxidase/en/
http://www.fao.org/AG/AGAInfo/resources/documents/MPGuide/mpguide2.htm
https://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/industry/food-safety-and-regulation/dairy-food-safety
Separation: Separators spin the milk at high speed. The heavier skim milk is pushed to the
outer part of the separator and the lighter cream or butterfat is collected in the centre. From
here, it is piped off for use elsewhere.
Separators also clarify the milk. Sediment and some bacteria collects in pockets on the side
of the separator. Every so often, the “separation sludge” is cleared off by the machine.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/dairy-product/Separation
Pasteurisation: In Australia, most cows are healthy and disease-free but bacteria in the
farm environment that can cause untreated, or “raw”, milk to because dangerous to humans.
So the milk is gently heated to 72° Celsius for 15 minutes, or more, to kill most of the harmful
bacteria. Pasteurised milk may still contains a very small amount of bacteria so it is quickly
cooled again to less than 4.4° Celsius to make is safe for consumption for up to 14 days, if
kept refrigerated.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/dairy-product/Physical-and-biochemical-
properties#ref50419
2
Homogenisation: This process spreads the cream, or fat, evenly through the milk,
making the milk uniform, whiter, richer in flavour and improve the texture. Many milk
products are made with homogenised milk. If milk is not homogenised, it is still safe
to consume but it will separate and the cream will float on the top. The milk is heated
to make the sure the fat is in a liquid state and pumped at high-pressure valve, or
breaker ring. This breaks up the fat droplets and distributes it evenly throughout the
milk.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/dairy-product/Separation
Storage: The milk is again stored, ready for packaging, and some milk is kept for
other dairy foods. The vats are refrigerated to keep the milk at 4°C. Stainless steel
pipes and vats are used because stainless steel does not corrode or rust easily and
resists the growth of bacteria if it is kept clean and sterile. It also protects the milk
from light as sunlight can damage the milk and destroy some of the nutrients.
http://www.legendairy.com.au/dairy-foods/dairy-products/milk/storing-milk
Packaging: The milk is packaged on an automatic machine into sterile (germ-free)
plastic-coated cardboard cartons or “jug”, recyclable plastic or glass bottles and
sealed. This reduces the chance of contamination. These are marked with the shelf
life, usually 10 days, so that consumers know when it is safe and unsafe to consume
the milk.
http://www.legendairy.com.au/dairy-foods/dairy-manufacturing/dairy-packaging-and-
recycling
https://bannisterdowns.com.au/packaging
Delivery: The cartons or bottles are packed into crates or boxes and stored in huge
cool rooms until they can be transported to shops and supermarkets in the back of
refrigerated trucks. Some companies deliver milk to homes or workplaces provide
fresh milk daily.
http://ccuart.org/
3
Additional resources:
Milk Facts Info graphic
http://www.fao.org/resources/infographics/infographics-details/en/c/273893/
Milk and dairy products in human nutrition
http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3396e/i3396e.pdf
Brownes Dairy School Tours
http://schooltours.brownesdairy.com.au/
Dairy farming in WA:
Where:
• Harvey
• Margaret River
• Denmark
Key facts:
• 160 dairy farms
• 65,000 dairy cows
• Average herd size: 406 cows
• Milk production 0.337 billion litres
• 4% of national milk production
http://www.legendairy.com.au/dairy-farming/our-industry/our-regions
4
Activity Sheet
Cow to Cup
1. Describe each of the milk production steps and explain why
they are an important part of the milk production process.
Milking:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Storage at the farm:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Transportation:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Testing:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Pasteurisation:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Homogenisation:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Storage:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Packaging:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Delivery:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
2. Draw a flowchart illustrating the milk production process
