Discovering the Dairy Industry in Malaysian Borneo

Since we arrived in Malaysia 18 days ago, I had not seen a single dairy operation in the state of Johor, which is the southern-most point of peninsular Malaysia (and Asia).

We have recently traveled to the state of Sabah, which is on the island of Borneo and has a climate more suitable for dairy production. The operation we visited is situated at the base of Mount Kinabalu, the highest point in Sabah. Nestled upon nearly 400 acres in the rural town of Kundasang at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level, the farm remains comfortable at a temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit  year-round.

9,000 miles away away from home on the opposite side of the world, dairy enthusiasts from the
#AgEd2Malaysia team enjoyed a visit to DESA Dairy, an operation home to 600 head of Holstein-Friesian cows, heifers, and calves. In addition to
processing their own milk from 200 lactating cows into gelato, ice cream, cheese, and bottling
their own milk, DESA Dairy also expanded its business plan to build an impressive agri-tourism
facility. Upon arrival to the dairy, we found many families enjoying the DESA café, purchasing
cheese, and exploring the dairy facility via a self-guided tour.

Upon arrival to DESA dairy, adjectives such as “innovative, progressive, and model operation”
came to mind as we met our tour guide overlooking the parlor. Our guide (who had a B.S. degree
in Tourism & Management) was quickly bombarded with questions such as average milk
production, reproduction techniques, milking frequency and nutrition. Here are some quick facts:

• Biosecurity practices are implemented and enforced. Our vans drove through a tire wash

and we stepped in a foot bath prior to accessing the barns

• DESA Dairy is a closed-herd as the operation has only purchased cattle twice (from

Australia and New Zealand)

• 3x per day milking (never received a definite Rolling Herd Average (RHA), but the tour

guide mentioned that these Holsteins can easily produce 25 liters/day, a progressive 94 lb/day)

• Operation uses a double 20 Delaval parallel parlor
• Artificial insemination is utilized with only the top-ranked bulls (our tour guide didn’t

know breeding priorities, but we can assume milk production)

The freestall barn was identical to a modern dairy barn in the United States, complete with a
rotating cow brush. All cows were equipped with activity monitors around their neck, indicating
that DESA values technology and information to help make informed breeding, milking, and
health decisions from the data provided by the activity monitors. Automatic scrapers removed
manure to a nearby lagoon while cows enjoyed clean cow mattresses covered in sawdust, an
acceptable practice in the United States.

Cows received a feed that appeared like a TMR (total mixed ration) and via
observations/information from the tour guide, we could conclude that cows received a mixture
of dried day (imported from New Zealand in super-compact bales), corn, bean sprouts, a high
moisture green-chop hay, and protein pellets.

DESA Dairy farm has maintained premium quality milk by implementing good farming practices,
advanced technology, machine hygiene and maintenances, and dairy monitoring of milk quality.
This dairy operation has established food safety assurance management throughout the
processing line, which has allowed the company to sell dairy products. DESA Dairy sells nine
dairy products consisting of fresh milk, flavored milk, goat’s milk, natural yogurt, fruit yogurt,
yogurt gelato, mozzarella cheese, Camembert cheese, and DESA Farm cheese.

And the question you’ve been asking yourself...what about the milk prices? This is a question that
can’t be answered simply from the tour information (again, we had above-average knowledge
compared to the normal tourist groups). The tour guide did tell us that DESA dairy sells 1 liter
of milk for 5.7 Malaysian Ringgits ($1.43 per liter, which equates to $5.38 per gallon). However,
DESA is unique because they process all of their milk and don’t sell to the market. In an attempt
to locate statistics specific to the number of dairy cattle, milk prices, etc. in Agriculture in the
Malaysian Region, statistics reference “livestock rearing” with the major species being chicken
and broiler production. Cattle for milk production are not mentioned on any data tables,
indicating that dairy production is not a major economic driver in Malaysia like it is in
Pennsylvania.

The value and commitment DESA food products has established their name in many household
throughout Sabah, Malaysia. Their products of consumption are safe and halal status. Their
commitment to a halal status is a preferred supply of choice among people buying their products.
The reason being is because 65% of their customers are Islamic. This may bring up the question,
“Who or what makes the makes the meat Halal?” There are three certified Halal checkers on duty
throughout the process. This is to make sure slaughtering is done according to the Islamic am.  
One could find Halal checkers before slaughtering and two checkers after slaughtering.

The organization of DESA Dairy was also admirable and very similar to large dairy operations.
The tour guide continuously made reference to different “departments” that existed within the
business structure. A total of 150 employees are engaged in the operation from the following
departments: Finance, Farm Crew, Marketing, Maintenance, Processing, and Transportation.
Although this number may seem high for the total number of animals on the operation, we know
that 9 cows support 1 job in the dairy industry in Pennsylvania, so a similar sentiment is observed
at DESA Dairy as well.