The dairy at Tocal is the only dairy owned and run by the NSW Department of Primary Industries. It is a commercial dairy, covering 260 hectares and supplying over 1.5 million litres of milk to consumers each year.

For detailed information on the dairy’s pasture systems, herd management, milking technologies and more, see the Dairy - farm details part of the Virtual Farm.

The dairy is also used for education, research and demonstration. Tocal students are actively involved in dairy work and aspects of its management. It is a venue for farmer workshops and field days both in the training centre and in the
fields.

Precision Dairy Farming and its place in the NSW and Australian dairy industry is a focus for the NSW Department of Primary Industry as it pursues its vision of building a thriving sustainable agriculture for tomorrow’s communities. NSW DPI’s role is to facilitate and connect science and research through developing and delivering this dairy industry led innovation into knowledge that meets industry needs. DPI is currently running a number of Automatic Milking System projects in collaboration with a number of industry, commercial and higher education partners.

DPI GATE is a collaborative research and technology facility designed to cultivate and develop ag-tech ideas. The GATE is a NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) initiative to fast‑track the development of ag‑tech to increase productivity.

Schools can tour the dairy, including viewing the milking parlour from a safe observation platform. The NSW DPI Schools Program has created a range of excellent workbooks and teacher guides available from the Virtual Farm site.