Farming Buffalo in Somerset

Somerset is known for its lush pastures and flooded levels, a landscape so often decorated with various breeds of cattle, sheep and the odd gaggle of goats. But for the last couple of decades, in one corner of the county, the land has been trodden and the waters swum by a very different beast, the water buffalo. Angus D. Birditt visits Jon and Rachel and their three boys, Thomas, William and George, who rear these beautiful creatures in Somerset, making a number of products including mozzarella from their delicious raw buffalo milk.

ADB: Jon, why did you choose to farm these impressive beasts?

Jon: Well, it was originally my parents who started farming buffaloes in the 1980s. After farming dairy and then poultry after that, my father, Tony, decided he wanted to try something new and diversify the farm. Once he was given the opportunity to purchase the buffaloes, the first 22 came from Romanian where they were used in a very pastoral system. Initially, my parents reared the buffaloes for their meat, selling it to farmers markets across the region.

Then around 2010 I came back to the farm and diversified it further by milking the animals and producing our range of products. We now have around 300 buffaloes in our herd, milking them once a day.

At the moment the average milk quantity we get from the herd per day is 210 litres, with an average of 6-7 litres a day per animal. It depends a lot on the time of year and their lactation as they can produce 10-14 litres per day or much less. We are milking 32 animals currently. Their diet consists of 80% pasture, 10% lucerne and 10% wholecrop, the latter is grown on farm. We’ve noticed that the wholecrop in their diet is essential for keeping the fat content high in the milk, essential for making mozzarella.

"Mozzarella can be one of the hardest cheeses to produce, with many in the industry saying you need a minimum of 5 years’ experience to get the right technique..."

And how is it farming buffaloes, what’s their temperament like, for example?

Buffaloes are real personalities; each one is different. They are incredibly intelligent, perceptive, aware animals with a very good memory, and with human contact they can be very affectionate. Oh, and they are, of course, great swimmers!

When milking the buffaloes, they can be very sensitive creatures, needing familiar surroundings and routine. When routine changes for one reason or another or there is something new in the milking parlour, they can stop milking, just like turning off a tap. There was one time when we installed a new tap in the parlour which had a particular vivid blue top that stood out from the usual parlour equipment. This was something the buffaloes spotted immediately when they walked into the parlour and refused to come in for a while – as I said, buffaloes are sensitive creatures, so we make sure they are as comfortable as possible.

Tell us what raw milk is, why you sell it and its benefits

Raw milk is milk in its natural state, for us our milk is unpasteurised and unhomogenised which comes straight from the animal. As I mentioned, we milk the buffaloes once a day, raw milk that goes straight into our products.

We saw an opportunity in the market for raw milk. It started with the ease and lower costs involved in producing the raw milk, which could go straight into the vending machine at our farmgate. What was great was we had a huge demand from our existing customers to supply the raw milk as well.

In terms of cheesemaking, we believe raw milk improves the quality and flavour of our cheese as it has not been pasturised or homogenised. It's also a source of A2 protein, with a high butterfat content which makes it perfect for making mozzarella. Mozzarella can be one of the hardest cheeses to produce, with many in the industry saying you need a minimum of 5 years’ experience to get the right technique, the right stretching point in the make so it’s not too hard or too soft. We currently make around 500 balls a day from 200 litres of raw milk.

The benefits to our health were also a factor in producing raw milk and selling it to our local community and beyond. Research tells us it can improve conditions like psoriasis and asthma, plus we’ve heard that several people who are lactose intolerant can consume buffalo milk.We’ve even had people drive from hundreds of miles away for our milk!

"I will probably echo many farmers around the UK that it is difficult to find skilled workers to manage the land and animals..."

What are the challenges you face as a raw milk producer?

As a raw milk producer, we are extremely thorough throughout the process of milking our animals and making our products, working hard to maintain the highest levels of food and farming standards.

Hygiene levels are much more stringent and the costs for quality checking the milk are high and it carries a TB risk – just a couple of reasons why raw milk prices are a little higher than milk that is not. We are passionate about producing raw milk and you need that passion to produce it. Buffaloes are intuitive, very aware of their environment, and the farming practices surrounding them must stay the same. They are much more challenging to milk and produce two-thirds less milk than a standard dairy cow every day. It's essential when producing raw milk to work closely with your local Environmental Health Officer (EHO) for their advice and guidance, and we have a great relationship with ours.

Another challenge is rural employment. I will probably echo many farmers around the UK that it is difficult to find skilled workers to manage the land and animals, harder still to find those that will farm buffaloes. Rising costs on the farm is another issue, energy prices and the like force us on the farm to produce more milk to keep afloat.

How can someone get involved and purchase your products?

We sell a range of buffalo products. We sell raw buffalo milk from the farm shop and send direct nationwide, raw buffalo milk ice cream which is produced off site but with our own raw milk, raw buffalo milk mozzarella and all cuts of buffalo meat, from steak to burgers, joints to sausages. We are also looking into producing more products like a new yoghurt, a halloumi-style cheese and currently working with a local cheesemaker in Somerset to produce a new raw buffalo milk Camembert style cheese.

Spreading the work about the fabulous herd is the best way to support us, buying from our farm shop and following our journey on social media here.

Farming Buffalo in Somerset

Article and Photography by Angus D. Birditt

Interview with Jon Corpe at Buffalicious