Thursday, July 29, 2010

Raw Milk Cheese & Breeds

I try to keep the topic of this blog solely about Mangalitsa pigs, Mangalitsa pork and processing, but sometimes I write about other topics.

If you are someone thinking of building a raw milk dairy and making raw milk cheese (these sorts actually read this blog), what follows may interest you.

Jersey cows have a good reputation for producing fatty milk, and are relatively well-known, so some people think that getting a bunch of Jerseys and making cheese from their milk is automatically going to make their cheese the best.

It doesn't work that way.

I've got evidence (from some friends who produce some of the best cheese in the USA) that Normandes are probably better than Jerseys for cheese production. Do a little research and you'll see why.

2 comments:

Carl Blake said...

Hey Heath. Just to give you a bit more info about the Meishan. I have secured Pure Bred Meishan Semen from a large genetics source that will assist me in increasing my herd and maintaining biodiversity. This will ensure the fact the Meishan will be staying in the US and maintaining itself as useful breed.

Heath Putnam said...

Carl, is there semen from animals related to the ones that were imported by Iowa State, USDA and so on?

For example the company IBS could get you Meishan semen a while back. The thing was, they got a boar from Iowa State. So given where your herd came from (IA State) getting semen from them wouldn't help you much at all.