Milk/Farming Simulator 15
Milk is a commodity produced by Cows in Farming Simulator 15. Cows will always produce Milk even if you give them no care whatsoever, but the more care you provide, the more Milk is produced. Milk accumulates "off-screen", and cannot be retrieved or interacted with in any way. At midnight every night, all accumulated Milk is sold instantly. Milk production is quite profitable; together with other byproducts from Cows, the Milk business venture is very lucrative.
Overview
Milk is an emulsification of various fats and nutritional chemicals in a watery solution. Female mammals produce Milk in order to feed it to their young. The offspring feed off the Milk for quite some time after they are born, and receive from it everything they need to survive until they can start consuming other foods.
Humans have learned to exploit their farm animals' Milk several thousands of years ago. Humans produce Milk from a variety of animals, though most modern cultures today consume primarily cow milk, moreso than most other types. To this end, female cows are grown in large numbers and are kept in a perpetual state of milk production. That milk is extracted from the cow, whether manually or with specialized machinery. Milk is then sold to companies that pasteurize it (essentially prolonging its shelf-life through a variety of procedures) or turn it into a wide variety of products known as "dairy products".
In Farming Simulator 15, the process of milking cows is entirely automated, as is the process of collecting and selling the milk. All the player has to do is to invest money in purchasing the cows, and to provide some level of care to those cows in order to produce enough milk to make a profit.
Cow care involves either feeding, bedding, or both. Different types of feed may also be more or less effective at increasing cow productivity. The better care is given to Cows, the more milk is produced, and the higher the resulting profit margin.
Productivity
Every few minutes of game-time, each Cow will produce a set amount of Milk. That amount is directly proportional to a value called Cow "Productivity", which can be checked in the info menu under the "Cows" sub-header. The Productivity value is the only value that influences how much Milk each cow will produce.
The Productivity value is influenced by the care you give to your cows. By default, when cows are given no attention whatsoever, their Productivity value will be exactly 5%. At this stage, each Cow will produce exactly 34 liters of Milk per day.
In order to increase the Productivity value, Cows must be given at least some level of care. This consists of either feeding the cows (on one or more of a variety of possible materials), or spreading a Straw bedding inside their shed. The Productivity value will increase to at least 10%, and may reach as high as 100% if the appropriate food and bedding is provided. At 100% productivity, each Cow will produce 674 liters of Milk per day.
The table below illustrates the Productivity value based on the exact level of care given to your cows:
| Feed | Productivity | Milk per Cow per Day (liters) |
|---|---|---|
| None | 5% | 34 * |
| Straw Bedding | 10% | 68 |
| Grass OR Silage | 35% | 237 |
| Grass OR Silage, w/ Straw Bedding | 44% | 300 |
| Grass AND Silage | 70% | 472 |
| Grass AND Silage, w/ Straw Bedding | 80% | 550 |
| Total Mixed Ration | 90% | 607 |
| Total Mixed Ration, w/ Straw Bedding | 100% | 674 |
For more information about each of these, read the article on Cows.
Profit
At midnight on every single game day, all Milk accumulated so far during the day will be sold automatically and instantly. There is no other way to sell Milk, nor any way to interact with the accumulated Milk.
Every liter of Milk sells for exactly $1. Therefore, at the default 5% productivity, each cow will fetch $34 per day. At 100% productivity, each cow will fetch $674 per day. See the table above for more information.
Note of course that each Cow has an upkeep cost of $40 per day. Therefore, unless you increase Productivity to at least 10%, you will not be turning a profit on the sold Milk - instead you'll be spending a total of $6 for each cow you own, each day.
Finally, remember that Milk is not the only substance produced by your cows. Providing feed will cause cows to produce Slurry, whereas bedding will cause cows to produce Manure (and providing both feed and bedding will cause cows to produce both Slurry and Manure). These fertilizers, if utilized on your fields, can increase your profits substantially.