In the last several years New Mexico has become a national leader in cheese and milk production, averaging 600,623,136 pounds of milk per month and a total of 7,207,477,628 pounds in 2007. This calculates out to over 150,000 tanker loads of raw milk a year generated in the State of New Mexico alone.  New Mexico currently has 173 dairy farms, that ship milk across state lines. These farms are listed in the FDA Interstate Milk Shipments List by their Bulk Tank Units. There are twenty processing plants in the state that produce a wide range of products from packaged fluid milk to cheese to whey protein concentrate. Every raw milk producer and product is sampled once a month to insure the food is safe for consumption.

The dairy division inspects all dairy farms and processing plants to assure that dairy products are free of harmful bacteria and antibiotics. Milk tankers and milk hauler/samplers are permitted to assure clean transportation vehicles and universal sampling techniques. The division also reviews and approves all construction plans for dairy farms and milk processing plants. All milk samples are collected by division inspectors and analyzed by the Scientific Laboratory Division of the New Mexico Department of Health.