Open Air dairying

This week my attention has been drawn to a delicious cheddar produced by a Dorset Dairy, the 'Open Air Dairy'. The cows live outside all year round, roaming the pastures & grazing. The herd of 850 cows are milked in the fields by means of a transportable milking parlour.

The cheddar is mature, more than mature in fact in my opinion, with moreish complex profile. The texture is slightly flinty with a definite crunch from calcium lactate, however the cheddar breaks down easily in the mouth. The flavour is rich, enhanced by subtle pasture notes. The savoury notes are long lasting & prominent with a hint of sweetness. Pretty delicious !

After some research of my own, it appears this method of milking goes way back in history to 1922. Arthur Hosier is famous for inventing the mobile milking parlour in 1922 & using it to milk his 70 cows up on the Marlborough Downs. Within a decade he had quadrupled his cow numbers at the time of the the deepest economic depression in World history. He wrote a book on it too ['Open-Air Dairying' (1927)]. He writes about the many advantages around milking out in the fields which can be read at the bottom of the page which are overwhelmingly positive for cattle health, pasture maintenance & cost.

Whilst I'm excited about the open air milking method as part of history, I'm even more excited about the potential quality cheese made from this milk.

I found this interesting, have a quick read , you may too.

Why the Out-of-door System Scores ['Open-Air Dairying' (1927)], Arthur Hosier.

1.?Clean milk and sanitary conditions. The milk being produced from cows living in the open is better in every respect -- it is?clean, not?cleaned?-- because the surroundings are clean. The milking outfit being moved frequently prevents the land becoming foul, and there is no need for expensive and palatial buildings or intricate systems of drainage.

Medical doctors are attaching great importance to fresh air, sunshine, and vitamins, and there is not the slightest doubt that milk produced under such conditions is of much greater feeding value than milk produced in stalls. It keeps longer, and is higher in butter fat; infectious diseases of the udder are almost unknown, because the conditions are not conducive to disease.

Under the system I adopt it is possible to draw milk from the cow and deposit it into an airtight and insulated receptacle at the end of the shed, at a temperature of 35 degree Fahrenheit, without ever coming in contact with the air, and untouched by hand. Such milk should be practically sterile, and would keep for a week or more in its raw state.

2. Tuberculosis?is the worst enemy of the milk producers, and apart from being a danger to the milk, it takes a heavy toll of their cows. The unnatural conditions of keeping cows in warm byres, congregated together and inhaling each other's breath, the foul and unsanitary yards and land around the homestead, the mud in wet weather, and the germ-laden dust in dry weather, are contributory causes of tuberculosis.

3. The low cost?of wear and tear in an outdoor herd is proof that the cows are healthy, they have a certain amount of grazing all the winter in open weather, and this, with exercise, keeps them fit; there are not so many barrens, the cows calve down much easier, and the calves never scour, because of the natural conditions if they are well fed. If the cows are out continually Nature gives them thick long coats, but if they are in warm stalls for 6 or 8 hours daily their coats are not so thick, and, consequently, they feel the cold when turned out; they stand around the muddy yards and shiver.

4. Low labour costs. It will readily be seen that if a man and boy are able to milk and feed 70 cows in winter the labour bill is very low. My average labour cost per gallon of milk last year was 1-7/16 d., this included feeding the cows and cooling the milk. There is no manure carting and spreading (a very heavy expense) so that there is no need to employ extra men on the farm at all, unless it may be for hay harvest or certain other seasonal work. In the hay harvest, the milkers are able to devote considerable time to the hayfield.

The enormous expense in labour alone, necessitated by the indoor system makes it impossible to compete. It matters not whether you are grass farming or arable farming, every ounce of food has to be brought to the buildings for the cows, and then there is extra work for feeding, cleaning out sheds, washing cows, and, finally, carting out manure back to the root land or pasture, and spreading.

5. Pastures. The open-air system with the portable milking plants, has had a marvellous effect on my pastures at Wexcombe, far surpassing my expectations. Downland covered with heather and valueless a few years ago, is now good dairy land, all the heather having disappeared; there are thousands of acres of accessible downland, which might be reclaimed in this way with its low initial cost and no buildings required. It is very difficult for the Vale Dairy Farmer to produce milk as cheaply in the orthodox way.