"DairyFarms" news and stories

This is an exciting time in the U.S. for cheese production due to the growing number of dairies creating artisanal cheeses. While Europeans have mastered the skill for many of their world renowned cheeses, like Brie and Gruyère, Americans are still learning. There is a tremendous amount of innovation occurring in American dairies. In her blog, Cheese monger Anne Saxelby points out that mixed milk cheeses are much more American than European since they are discouraged by AOC and DOC regulations.

Saxelby describes the development of mixed milk cheeses in the U.S. as an art. The craft lies in adding milk from the animals during a specific moment in the lactation cycle. The flavor of the milk is richer towards the end of the cycle. Accordingly, cheesemakers will use late season goat and sheeps' milk with some cows' milk. The proportions of each milk create the final taste of the cheese. And, the key is to balance out the fat content and decrease unpleasant flavors.

The following cheeses are mixed milk cheeses Saxelby recommends, and of course you can find them at her stall in the Essex Street Market in NY:
Battenkill Tomme - This raw sheep and cows' milk cheese comes from Three Corner Field Farm, NY.
Humble Pie - This pasteurized cow and sheeps' milk cheese comes from Woodcock Farm, VT.
Seal Cove Tomme - This pasteurized goat and cows' cheese milk comes from Seal Cove Farm, ME.
Capriola - This pasteurized goat and cows' milk cheese comes from Lazy Lady Farm, VT.
Timberdoodle - This raw sheep and cows' cheese milk comes from Woodcock Farm, VT.

I've heard of people trying crazy things to get more productive, but I'm not so sure this is one of them. I thought it sounded weird when I first saw the headline, but when I actually read about the practice, I had to admit it made sense.

Apparently some dairy farmers in the UK have started practicing Tai Chi in order to get more out of the cows. And put like that, it does sound a little odd. Really though, the Tai Chi is to relax and de-stress the farmers, so that they don't pass on that stress to the cows that they have to milk. The farmers do think that they get more milk from the cows now, but I personally think that's a pretty hard thing to quantify.

These are small organic dairy farmers, so they need to be in touch (literally) with their cows and be mindful of everything that affects them. I wonder if this could work for a large, machine run farm. Probably not, since I think that mechanical milkers wouldn't really transfer stress. It's a nice thought, though.

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