I have been to a number of dairy farms and facilities in China, and read about a lot more than I have visited. Even if market and political forces push the industry in one direction or another, dairy is still essentially agriculture. Because of the difference in weather, water, and resources, no two places will look alike.

Yesterday I visited a farm in Dali, Yunnan. This place has a long dairy tradition, including a brand of milk powder that first became famous in the 1960s, and became a big export item in the 1990s. Now there are three big brands, fighting it out in the local market.

The big companies buy the milk from farms like this one, which has about 100 head of dairy cattle, all Holsteins. The farm was clean and the animals looked healthy. I got to have a long chat with the farmer, who was very eager to tell me about the environmental measures they have implemented.