Kazakhstan finances 95 dairy farms as new megafarm raises milk capacity
Kazakhstan has financed 95 dairy farms capable of producing more than 500,000 tonnes of milk annually, with 71 already operating. Another 19 farms with about 100,000 tonnes of capacity are planned by the end of 2026, while the new SK Agro 2050 complex anchors the buildout in the north.
Subsidized credit expands the dairy base
Kazakhstan is accelerating investment in large dairy farms as the government seeks to increase domestic milk supply and provide processors with a more reliable raw-material base. A subsidized lending program has financed 95 farms with combined annual capacity exceeding 500,000 tonnes of milk, Deputy Agriculture Minister Azat Sultanov said at a government meeting on August 4, according to APK-Inform. Of those projects, 71 have entered operation.
Another 19 dairy farms, designed to produce about 100,000 tonnes annually, are scheduled to begin operating by the end of 2026. Kapital.kz reported that the program forms part of a wider effort to raise domestic availability and replace imports in food categories where self-sufficiency remains below the authorities’ target. Kazakhstan already covers at least 80% of demand for most basic foods, while poultry meat, fish, sugar, cheese and curd, sausages and apples remain areas of targeted work.
SK Agro 2050 establishes a new scale
The buildout includes SK Agro 2050, a new dairy complex in the Magzhan Zhumabayev district of North Kazakhstan Region. Regional authorities said the project has commissioned a 100-place GEA Westfalia rotary milking system, described as the largest installation of its kind in Central Asia. Once the farm reaches design capacity, it is expected to produce as much as 150 tonnes of milk per day.
Total investment in SK Agro 2050 is about 30 billion tenge, and the complex is expected to create more than 120 permanent jobs. Its planned herd will reach 12,000 cattle. The first construction stage includes an 800-head barn, a modern milking unit, accommodation for 550 dry and calving cows, two calf barns and a computerized feed mill.
The farm has introduced automated herd management, digital feeding controls and animal-health monitoring. Production processes ranging from moving cattle to the milking parlor to cooling buildings during hot weather are largely automated. Vladimir Sergeyev, chief technologist and farm manager, said 585 high-yield breeding cattle had arrived from Germany by air since the start of the year, with another 660 animals due from European countries before year-end.
Processors gain a larger domestic supply pool
North Kazakhstan Region is already the country’s leading center for technology-intensive dairy farming. More than 50 of its 118 commercial dairy farms operate as “smart” enterprises, according to the regional administration. Another large farm associated with Gennady Zenchenko holds about 9,000 cattle, including 3,600 dairy cows, and uses a 90-place rotary system from the same manufacturer.
The dairy program is advancing alongside broader growth in Kazakhstan’s food industry. Kapital.kz reported that food output reached 4 trillion tenge in 2025, an increase of 8.4%. Production grew by a further 14.7% year on year in the first half of 2026. Fixed-capital investment in agriculture reached 1.6 trillion tenge, 46% above the previous year, while investment during the first half of 2026 totaled 926 billion tenge, up 55% from the corresponding period.
For dairy processors, the central issue is how quickly the financed capacity translates into stable deliveries of commercially produced milk. The 95 supported farms represent more than five times the annual capacity of the 19 projects due to start by year-end. SK Agro 2050 also shows that the expansion is combining herd growth with automated milking, feed production and health monitoring, potentially improving consistency and traceability as Kazakhstan develops its domestic processing base.
