Learn About What Our Cows Are Grazing On This Winter

August 06, 2019

By now you would have seen our 1L milk bottles at your local Messina store and you might have even been lucky enough to taste it. We've developed a little following of die hard dairy fans who've become accustomed to the unhomogenised and unadulterated Messina milk, direct from our dairy farm in Numurkah, Victoria

Because we run the farms on our own and only produce for our gelato and stores, what our cows are fed—contributes directly to how the milk tastes. You'll notice the colour will be slightly more yellow in some seasons and lighter in others, due to the different types of pasture.

Recently in April and May, our Jersey cows were grazing on silage which is pasture grass that's been 'pickled'. No, our cows are not so cultured that they will now only eat pickled grass... it's a mixture of grass, clover and lucerne that's been cut in the warmer months—when it contains the highest nutrient levels—then cut into smaller pieces and fermented. The silage is compacted to remove as much oxygen as possible, creating the most suitable environment for fermentation.

This process enables us to feed our 400+ herd of Jersey cows the most nutritious and hydrated pasture all year round, even during the dryer months in winter.

In March and April we planted a new spread of crops, including: lucerne, field peas, paspalum, clover, rye grass, forage brassicas and oats which are grown out and turned into hay. The Jersey cows are rotated between paddocks 2-3 times a day to ensure they're getting a good variety of foliage, whilst stretching their legs along the way. They too need exercise to ensure a healthy body and produce high quality milk.

You will notice this month, our milk is more of an ivory colour instead of the usual buttery yellow tinge. You might even notice a slight difference in the flavour as the seasons change. These are some of the many delightful perks, in seeing the direct relationship between being a sole producer on a self-managed farm and offering a retail product directly to our stores. We are not at the mercy of commercial milk processing plants, that can alter or water down our product, we really do reap what we sow.

Currently you can find our 1L milk bottles in 100% recyclable glass or plastic vessels at our Rosebery, Tramsheds and Bondi stores in Sydney, Fitzroy in Melbourne and soon to be in Canberra.