It’s All About Milk Quality
To kick-off National Dairy Month, I thought it appropriate to talk a little bit about milk quality. After all, that’s how our delicious dairy products begin — with high quality milk. It doesn’t come by accident; milk of the highest quality comes from the healthiest of cows who are cared for by the best of people. Particularly when it comes to our aged cheddar cheeses, we believe our ability to develop the full cheddar notes and perfect texture can specifically be related to fresh, high quality milk.
I thought it would be fun to share a video I took early one morning on a cool spring day of cows as they walk in from the field to their morning milking. I also feel compelled to say that it was the first time I used my handy dandy little flip video camera, so sorry about the poor filming (I’m getting much better now).
The cows in the video are Holsteins. In the Tillamook Valley, about 60 percent of the herds are Holstein with around 30 percent being Jersey cows. The rest are a combination of Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Dutch Belt. The cows on this dairy gave such high quality milk that last year their dairy was recognized as one of the top three in our cooperative for milk quality. The award is based on an analysis of specific quality indicators. It isn’t easy to achieve, and takes a lot of hard work and desire to deliver the best possible product.
