DeLaval

We live milk​

DeLaval is a market leader and trusted partner for dairy farmers globally – providing integrated milking solutions, advanced software and services to improve dairy production, all while promoting high animal welfare and overall quality of life.

Our vision and purpose

As a market leader, we take great pride in providing dairy farmers with sustainable and efficient milking solutions that prioritise the welfare of their animals. By focusing our efforts on dairy farms, we support farmers to achieve their sustainability goals by transforming agriculture for the better, one farm at a time. We do this by helping dairy farmers to become more efficient through increased automation, digital services and expert advice.

This is our purpose. This is why we do what we do – to ensure the world continues to have access to milk, one of nature’s most nutritious foods.

Products and solutions

Driven by innovation, we continually strive to provide dairy farmers with world-class milking equipment and solutions. We offer efficient systems that enhance milking and other on-farm operations.

DeLaval customers can benefit from advisory and digital services to improve their performance. They can also choose from all-inclusive service plans and consumables including liners and tubes, farm supplies, and original parts to ensure milk quality and animal welfare. By providing better conditions for animals, farmers can improve animal welfare and longevity while at the same time maintain or improve farm profitability. After all, a healthy animal provides more milk, of better quality, and for a longer period.

Automation and digital services

Globally, more and more farms are utilising automated solutions and digital services on their farms. One example of this is DeLaval Bio-Sensors that gather highly precise data from each individual cow and provide the farmer with real-time analysis. This allows the farmer to optimise the timing of insemination, or if she is getting sick, enabling them to care for the animal early on.

These advanced digital services are powered by DeepBlue, our artificial intelligence. DeepBlue models of cow behaviour are trained on cow events, and through deep learning (utilising multi-layered neural networks) identify patterns in cow data, from farms around the world, to provide predictive insights.

With these insights farms can work on improving their performance by introducing updated working methods, better hygiene practices, or investing in deeper insights by installing new BioSensors and increasing their farm automation. The aim is to empower farmers by using more data to support better decision-making on farms.

Automated solutions enable farmers to shift their focus from manual labour to other important tasks on the farm, such as animal care and overall management. In regions experiencing labour shortages, automation ensures that dairy farms can still operate efficiently.

Sustainability

Every time we help a farmer find a way to produce more milk from the same herd, we make food production more sustainable – doing more with less. We are guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we set targets to become better in our own operations as well as in the products we offer our customers.

DeLaval facts:  
Net sales 2024 €1,320 million
Sales in >100 countries
Number of employees 2024 4,813
Technical Training Centres 14
R&D Centres 7
Distribution Centres 6
Production Plants 13

MARKET

The dairy industry is shaped by global trends, which create both opportunities and challenges for DeLaval’s market. The current major trends include:

Milk splash

DEMAND FOR DAIRY CONTINUES TO INCREASE, WHILE SUPPLY GROWTH REMAINS LIMITED

DEMAND FOR DAIRY CONTINUES TO INCREASE, WHILE SUPPLY GROWTH REMAINS LIMITED

As income and population increase, more dairy products are expected to be consumed globally, especially in dairy deficit regions. Milk production growth in key dairy export regions such as EU and New Zealand is limited due to environmental policies and regulations. US milk production growth has the highest potential among the traditional export regions. Future growth in milk production will come mainly from increased cow yield rather than herd growth.

Cows and data graphs

MACROECONOMICS REMAIN CHALLENGING

MACROECONOMICS REMAIN CHALLENGING

Slow economic growth, geopolitical instability and on-going conflicts, protectionism and potential trade barriers, increased cost of living and high interest rates are all challenges for DeLaval and the wider dairy industry. On a positive note, dairy farmers are seeing improved margins and cash flow thanks to lower milk production costs and higher milk prices.

FARM CONSOLIDATION

FARM CONSOLIDATION

Global farm consolidation continues. The continued global shift towards large-scale operations is mitigating escalating costs and increasing efficiency. New opportunities will emerge for progressive farmers who are growth-oriented and invest in an efficient and sustainable production. There is a growing demand for solutions that promote automation, digitalisation and sustainability in the dairy industry.

Cows grazing, green hills

SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY

Consumer expectations on sustainability are increasingly reflected in agricultural policies, subsidies and incentives from dairy processing companies and retailers. This will continue to trigger sustainability investments by farmers. Dairy farmers’ ‘social license’ to produce milk in developed countries will be tied to reducing the sector’s carbon footprint. The biggest impact DeLaval can have on sustainability is by bringing innovations to farms.

Farmer with tablet and cows in barn

DIGITALISATION

DIGITALISATION

Digitalisation is changing the competitive landscape and creating new business opportunities. Digital solutions are enabling dairy farmers to improve nutritional security, animal health and increase productivity by providing valuable insights that enable informed decisions. Data is becoming critical for farmers to demonstrate improvements, comply with regulations and benefit from incentives.

LABOUR COSTS AND SHORTAGES

LABOUR COSTS AND SHORTAGES

Investments in automation and milking robots will continue to increase driven by high labour costs and low availability. Such investments in automation are often a prerequisite for new generations on family-owned farms.

Technology

Revolutionising cow health: artificial intelligence-powered solution unlocks advanced disease risk prediction

The DeLaval Plus Predictions Disease Risk application was refined and scaled up in 2024 to further enhance its disease risk prediction capabilities.

Accurately predicting the risk of disease

The Disease Risk application is part of the DeLaval Plus Predictions service and can support farmers by quickly identifying animals at risk of having a disease. The application helps make efficient data-driven decisions, to manage the cows’ health – and ultimately produce more milk.

“Disease Risk combines huge amounts of constantly updated data from DeLaval milking systems and sensors to support farmers in detecting diseases early,” said Martina Dadomo, Product Manager in Digital Services. “The neural network artificial intelligence model used to analyse this data will continuously improve as more cows and farms worldwide are connected.”

Cow and calves

Enhanced prediction capabilities

Disease Risk was refined and scaled up in 2024 as more farms began using the application, which further enhances how it predicts the risk of cows having a disease. Additionally, the frequency of updates increased from once a day to eight times a day and new types of diseases were added to the risk analysis to provide even greater insight for farmers.

“I believe the application will become an essential tool that will help farmers to optimise the efficiency of their operations,” claimed Dadomo. “Our progress with Disease Risk in 2024 was an important step on our DeLaval Plus journey that will include more powerful prediction tools in the years ahead.”

The DeLaval Plus: Disease Risk application was among the finalists for the International Dairy Federation (IDF) Dairy Innovation Awards 2024 for how it improves animal health and welfare and contributes towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

What is DeLaval Plus?

DeLaval Plus is an advanced customer portal that turns farm data into easy-to-understand actionable insights to enable farmers to make fast, accurate decisions that improve sustainability and profitability. The portal is powered by DeepBlue, DeLaval’s unique artificial intelligence system that collects and analyses herd data from various farm sensors and milking systems.