Desa Cattle (Sabah) Sdn Bhd ( doing business as Desa Cattle) is the main

dairy product Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in th ...

company in the state of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

, Malaysia since 1980. Owned by Desa Cattle (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, it is the main dairy product producer in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. The company feature a 199-hectare cattle dairy farm at Mesilau in

Kundasang Kundasang is a hill station in the district of Ranau in Sabah, Malaysia that lies along the bank of Kundasang Valley within the Crocker Range, and also neighboring the town of Pekan Nabalu. It is located about 6 kilometres away from Kinabalu Na ...

, with an estimate 150,000 litres fresh milk produced each month, as well a cattle feedlot for meat production in

Lok Kawi Lok Kawi is a township in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Located around the border of the districts of Penampang and Papar, and about 15 kilometres south of the state capital Kota Kinabalu, it has become part of the urban expanse of Kot ...

and Penampang. Young cattle from the farm are fed with specially formulated feed to average 420 kg weight before being slaughtered at Meat Technology Centre.

History

Dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

and

cattle-farming A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

began in Sabah in the 1980s with the company developed by Harris Salleh under

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

-linked company to see the state to develop its own self-produced dairy products and meat. The state government also establish a cattle farm in Darwin,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the state finally reached its target in 1998 to become 100% self-sufficiency in the production of meats. The farm was owned by Desa Cattle Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Village Development Corporation (KPD). After several years operating, Harris together with

Lajim Ukin Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Lajim Ukin (15 June 1955 – 29 August 2021) was a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Beaufort constituency in Sabah from 2008 to 2013, the Deputy Minister of Transport from 2008 to 2009, ...

decided to sell the farm in Australia; along with the remaining thousands of acres of farm in Sabah although Lajim denied his involvement in the selling. The company was then privatised in 1994. Its headquarters in Kota Kinabalu was established in 2010, although based on a news release in 2011, the company has been under the state government.

Notes

References

External links

*
Desa Cattle (Sabah) Sdn Bhd Company Profile
on Bloomberg L.P. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cattle, Desa 1980 establishments in Malaysia Dairy products companies of Malaysia Holding companies of Malaysia Government-owned companies of Malaysia Malaysian brands Manufacturing companies established in 1980 Privately held companies of Malaysia Food and drink companies established in 1980 Malaysian companies established in 1980