Dairy, from the farm tank to the cheese.
Record milk by farm and day, keep each lab result on the lot it describes, and make cheese, whey and butter lots that name the milk they came from.
In figures
- 4Formats of the FSMA 204 reportCounted in the platform’s code.
- 0.51 sMass balance report, built and signedMedian of 52 signed reports, queue time not counted.
- 0.49 sTo find every lot a recall reachesMedian of 62 signed recall-scope reports, queue time not counted.
Counted in the platform’s code or measured on the A-REX test environment, November 2026. Not customer results.
The challenge
Milk is collected every day or two, from many farms, into one tanker.
Many farms in one tanker
A collection route merges the milk of many farms, and a problem found at the plant must lead back to each of them.
Results that belong to a lot
Antibiotic residues, somatic cells, bacteria and solids are measured on samples, and each result must stay with the milk it describes.
Soft cheeses on the FDA's list
Soft and fresh cheeses are on the Food Traceability List of FSMA 204; milk, butter and hard cheeses are not.
Products used
How A-REX runs dairy, step by step.
01
Register harvests
Register each farm's milk by day in litres, recorded exactly, with the origin reference of the farm and its stage: Milked, Cooled in the tank or Collected.
- Litres by farm and day, recorded exactly
- Each lot with the origin reference of its farm
Fictitious demo data 02
Readings
Temperature from the tanker's logger or tracker is charted against the range agreed for the route, with each excursion marked. Logger files in CSV, spreadsheet or PDF can be imported too.
- Temperature against the agreed range
- Logger files imported as they are written
Fictitious demo data 03
Processing
Merge the route's milk into the tanker lot, then make cheese, whey and butter: each new lot names every input, in litres or kilograms as the product is measured. For the mass balance, milk under HS 0401.10 or 0401.20 is read at a nominal 1.03 kg per litre (raw milk's relative density is 1.028 to 1.034, Brazil's IN 76/2018), never a measured weight; a run with a product of no known density skips the check.
- Merges and cheesemaking keep every input
- Litres in, kilograms out, milk at a nominal 1.03 kg/L
Fictitious demo data 04
Facts
Record what happens to the milk without changing the lot: the bulk tank collection, the reception test, mastitis treatments and dry-off from the dairy template, or your own fact types. Each fact says it was declared by your company.
- Dairy facts from a ready template
- Each one marked declared by your company
Fictitious demo data 05
Lot rules
Allow the plants and buyers each lot may go to, name the certificates it needs and set when it expires. Lot rules check every move before it happens, and a new rule runs on trial against your real operations first.
- Receivers and expiry checked before a lot moves
- New rules tried on real operations first
Fictitious demo data 06
Lineage
Open a cheese lot to see the tanker lots and the farms behind it, and everything made from a lot of milk. The recall scope lists every lot, holder and quantity a recall reaches.
- From the cheese back to every farm
- Forward to every holder, for a recall
Fictitious demo data
The journey, stage by stage
Every step is a proposal a person approves.
Start from the dairy template
Milk, cheese, whey and butter with their HS codes, in litres and kilograms, the schemes buyers ask about, such as Organic and GLOBALG.A.P., and what partners usually share. The template adds stage lists for raw milk at the farm, the dairy plant and cheese, with the facts and process types below: adopt what fits.
Register milk by farm and day
Each farm's milk is a lot in litres with the origin reference of its farm. The template's stages are Milked, Cooled in the tank and Collected; you can name your own instead.
Record the collection at the tank
The Bulk tank collection fact keeps the litres, the tank temperature, the hours since the first milking, the hauler, the sample and, when you name it, the herd milked. Beside each field is its reference, such as EU Regulation 853/2004, the US PMO or Brazil's IN 77/2018: a reference, never a verdict. Each fact says who declared it.
Collect into the tanker
The route's farm lots merge into one tanker lot that names every one of them. A tracked delivery charts the tanker's temperature against the agreed range.
Attach the lab results
The Milk reception test keeps fat, protein, somatic cells, total bacteria, antibiotic residues, the temperature on arrival and the freezing point on the lot it describes, with the lab that issued it. The EU, US and Brazilian limits are shown as references; they decide nothing.
Record treatments and dry-off on the herd
A mastitis treatment or a dry-off is recorded on the herd lot, with the cows, the product and the milk and meat withdrawal periods on its label. A check compares the milk collected with the milk period: milk whose Bulk tank collection names a herd still inside that period opens a finding, and a dry-off never counts. It comes in a new version of its set of checks: try it on trial beside the version in use, then put it in use.
Make cheese, whey and butter
Milk reception, pasteurisation, cheesemaking, ripening and butter churning are ready process types; pasteurisation keeps its temperature and holding time, with the Codex and US PMO minimums as references. Cheesemaking turns litres of milk into kilograms of cheese, with the whey as its own lot weighed in kilograms, as churning does with buttermilk. Each new lot names the milk lots it came from, so a recall reaches back to the farms.
Keep the codes of soft cheeses
For soft and fresh cheeses sold in the United States, each lot keeps its traceability lot code and the key data elements of every shipment.
The evidence it produces
What a buyer, an auditor or a verifier you allow can read, with who declared each part.
- Lineage
- Each lot back to its inputs and their plots or farms, and forward to every holder.
- Certificates and lab results
- Each with its issuer, its validity and its evidence level.
- Lot facts
- What your company declares about a lot, such as a treatment, the feed or a sample, each with who declared it.
- Mass balance
- Processing output against input, and the findings where it does not add up.
- Traceability lot codes
- The code on each lot, with where it was assigned.
- Recall scope
- Every lot, holder and quantity a recall reaches.
An evidence check lists what the records hold. It is not a legal opinion and never says that a lot complies.
Regulation crosswalk
What each rule asks of you, and where the platform keeps it. Evidence, not a legal opinion.
| Rule | What it asks of you | Where the platform keeps it |
|---|---|---|
| FSMA 204 | Key data elements and traceability lot codes for each critical tracking event. | The key data elements of every receipt, transformation and shipment, kept with the traceability lot code. |
| Certification schemes | Organic and other schemes, as certificates a lot must carry. | Each certificate with its issuer and evidence level; a lot rule can stop a lot that lacks one. |
| National rules | Country profiles for what each jurisdiction asks for. | Product codes, units and records in the scheme of each country, from HS and NCM to CN and HTS. |
More from Livestock and aquaculture
Cattle and beefAnimals, lots and cuts, back to the farms they came from.
PorkPigs by group and site, from farrowing to finishing, slaughter and cuts.
Poultry and eggsFlocks by house, from feed and treatments to chicken meat and packed eggs.
AquacultureFarmed fish and shrimp by pond or cage, from stocking to the frozen lot.
Talk to us about Dairy
Tell us how your milk is collected and what your plant makes. We will set it up with your products and units.
Talk to us