May. 23, 2012 (China Knowledge) - Switzerland-based Nestle SA, the world's leading food and beverage manufacturer, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build a 2,000-cow dairy farm in Old Barag Banner County of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, sources reported.

The dairy farm is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. Nestle will not own the farm but help the owners manage it.

Old Barag Banner County is near the Hulunbuir grasslands where Nestle has a dairy plant in Ergun Banner, which has a maximum annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons.

In January this year, Nestle inked a MOU to spend RMB 2.5 billion or US$396 million to build China's largest fresh milk supply base in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The fresh milk base is located in Shuangcheng of the province, with 187 milk districts, each of which would have more than 300 cows, China Knowledge reported earlier.