Australia's largest dairy farm by operation size used to be Van Diemen's Land Company (VDL) in Tasmania, milking over 17,000 cows, but it's been broken up and sold off, with parts now owned by Australian entities like Prime Dairy, while Moxey Dairy (NSW) and Coomboona Farms (VIC), operated by Australia Fresh Milk Holdings (AFMH), are considered the largest single-site factory farms, with Moxey housing 11,000 cows.
One of these dairy farms, split across two sites in Coomboona, Victoria, has the capacity to milk over 2500 cows, and produce 30 million litres of milk annually. Across the border in New South Wales is Moxey Dairy, the largest single-site dairy in the country.
New Zealand dairy company Fonterra has agreed to sell its global businesses to French giant Lactalis for $3.4 billion. Following the deal Lactalis will become the largest dairy company in Australia.
The Williams Cattle Company can claim the title of the owner of Australia's largest farm with the 2.3677 million-hectare Anna Creek Station near Coober Pedy, SA. Ownership of Australia's largest farms has remained relatively stable throughout the past year with only a handful of the biggest properties changing hands.
Let's take a closer look at how they work and the incredible farmers behind the scenes. Dairy farms are spread all over the country, but most of Australia's milk comes from the southeast. Think: Victoria, Tasmania, parts of South Australia and New South Wales.
Almarai the largest “dairy farm” by milk volume
Almarai from Saudi Arabia has the largest milk production with 1.47 million metric tons per year. This volume is similar to the milk production of Indonesia or Norway. Almarai has over 100,000 dairy cows.
We've always been Aussie made but now we're owned by Bega Cheese Limited – making us Aussie owned too! Bega Cheese completed its acquisition of the Lion Dairy & Drinks business from the previous owners in January of 2021, marking the return of Dairy Farmers to Australian ownership.
Topping the list is Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, whose agricultural assets – through S Kidman and Co and Hancock Agriculture – are now valued around $2 billion. According to The Australian's recent rich list, Rinehart has a wealth of about $46.34 billion.
Qin is the richest farmer in the world and owns 883 million shares of Muyuan stock, 40.06% of the company. Qin's wife Qian Ying is also a billionaire, and together they own a majority stake in Muyuan. His son Qin Muyuan (秦牧原) is a vice-president at Muyuan Group.
Located in Heilongjiang Province, China, the Mudanjiang City Mega Farm is the largest farm in the world, covering an astonishing 22,243,200 acres. This massive operation specializes in dairy production, with over 100,000 cows supplying milk for both domestic and international markets.
Bell Gully is pleased to be advising Lactalis, the world's largest dairy company, on its acquisition of Fonterra's global Consumer and associated businesses. The acquisition represents more than NZ$5.6 billion of net sales.
Fonterra was first established in October 2001, merging the country's two largest dairy co-operatives, New Zealand Dairy Group and Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, with the New Zealand Dairy Board. The name Fonterra comes from Latin, fons de terra, meaning "spring from the land”.
King Ranch
Bulla Dairy Products is an Australian made and owned company; in fact, Bulla has been owned by the same three Australian families since 1910, making it one of the oldest family-owned dairy companies in Australia. Now that's dairy knowledge and experience that you can't fake! Can I purchase products directly from Bulla?
However, it is Northern Territory mates and pastoralists, Viv Oldfield and Donny Costello, who hold the title as Australia's largest private landholders. Their portfolio spans more than nine million hectares – larger than Tasmania and more than twice the size of Switzerland – via their Crown Point Pastoral Company.
Production: China is the world's largest producer of many agricultural products, including rice, wheat, corn, potatoes, soybeans, cotton, and tobacco.
The largest agricultural landowner is the Chinese dairy farm 'Mudanjiang City Mega Farm', which is owned by Russian and Chinese owners. More than 9 million hectares belong to the company.
Australia's Richest 250 – The List 2025
Jobs that make 100k a year
Resnick is the wealthiest farmer in the United States, with a net worth exceeding nine billion dollars according to a 2020 article in Forbes magazine, and owns a majority stake in the Kern Water Bank, one of California's largest underground water storage facilities, which is capable of storing 500 billion gallons [1.9 ...
There are more than nine million dairy cows in this country and about 90 percent of them are Holsteins. Holstein calves weigh 80 to100 pounds when born.
The Discovery
The VEGEMITE brand has a history spanning over 100 years and is proudly owned by the great Australian food company – Bega Cheese Limited. Bega Cheese Limited purchased the VEGEMITE brand in 2017, returning VEGEMITE to Australian ownership for the first time in over 90 years.