The cows have been out to grass now from their winter barn for a couple of weeks and as a result the milk changes with the season.  I think the milk is at its best when the grass is at its best in early spring.

Our cows are milked by a robot or voluntary milking system (VMS) which means she chooses when she comes into get milked without the farmer needing to be there, any problems and he is just a phone call away! Her milk goes through checks before it gets mixed with the other cows milk in the bulk tank prior to the milk being pasteurised.  We also send regular raw milk samples to the lab so that we can monitor quality.  This week our milk came back 4.77% butterfat and 3.95% protein.  Compare this to supermarket milk which is standardised to 3.7% butterfat and 3.3% protein.  Another quality parameter we look at is somatic cell count (SCC), this week was 82(X1000/ml) and normally we see ours range between 40 and 100 (x1000/ml).  This is an indication of the health of the cow udder, with a high SCC indicating infection typically over 200 (x1000/ml).  Milk over 400 (x1000/ml) is considered unfit for human consumption, with the average UK dairy sitting at 176 (X1000/ml).

Our milk is then batch pasteurised, a slower gentler process, at a lower temperature than typically happens commercially.  We do not standardise or homogenise the milk, a process which smashes up the fat cells to stop the cream rising to the top. The result is a full-bodied, deliciously creamy milk that many customers comment reminds them of the milk they remember fondly from their childhood and this was recognised in the 2023 Great Taste Awards when we were awarded 2 stars.  As an added bonus, our milk is A2 which means that more people can enjoy our milk and icecream without unpleasant side effects people attribute to dairy intolerance.

#grasstoglass #grasstoicecream

Farmer G