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‘Around the Farm Table’ celebrates National Dairy Month
June 16, 2023 Leave a Comment
Despite California’s best efforts at dairy propaganda, we all know June might as well be called National Wisconsin Month, because our state produces the best milk, cheese and ice cream in the country. The highest quality examples of that wonderful, creamy goodness start with the top-notch cows feeding in verdant pastures around Wisconsin.
On bright summer mornings, you can find Around the Farm Table host Inga Witscher guiding her herd of Jersey cows out to feast on dew-laden grass, ready to turn sunshine and roughage into high-butterfat milk, and eventually big wheels of crumbly cheese.
Jerseys first arrived in the United States in the 1600s, gaining considerable popularity in the 1850s. One of the oldest breeds of dairy cattle, they herald from the Isle of Jersey, in the English channel. The smaller-than-average Jersey is a breed prized for its efficient milk production and sweet demeanor.
No offense to Holstein or Brown Swiss fans, of course; we can all agree that June is a great month to live in the Dairy State.
PBS Wisconsin videographer James Donovan getting up close and personal with Inga’s Jersey cows.
David Rieckmann says:
Jersey’s rock! They have mellow demeanor, are more sustainable and easier on the natural environment, generate less manure waste, consume less water plus they produce higher milkfat milk for better quality cheese vs the popular mainstream Holstein cows. Wisconsin is America’s Dairyland and needs to promote high quality milk products from sustainable earth-friendly dairy farming, unlike California’s unsustainable high volume focused milk dairy industry. Thank you Inga for setting a good example of how pasture fed Jersey cow low impact dairy farming can and should be done in Wisconsin!