LAUREN BRISBANE
CAMEL DAIRY FARMER
SUNSHINE COAST, QLD
Her ethical and organic QCamel farm produces an alternative for customers with dairy allergies.
Lauren Brisbane has the world’s only organically certified camel dairy. Her 1,214-hectare QCamel farm on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is home to a herd of 100 camels from which Brisbane produces milk, yoghurt and camel-milk feta.
Common in the Middle East, the idea of drinking camel milk is relatively new in Australia, but Brisbane says studies looking at its health benefits have piqued interest worldwide. “Camel milk has a completely different molecular structure to cow milk. It doesn’t contain the allergens and is much closer to human milk. It’s very easily digested and has antibodies that heal the gut. So, it’s perfect for people with a leaky gut or bowel issues and it’s a good source of calcium and vitamin C, zinc and vitamin B.”
According to Brisbane, part of her motivation to start a camel dairy was the necessarily ethical animal husbandry involved, something that aligned with her own values.
“The babies aren’t removed from the mothers because they won’t produce milk if they do. And I didn’t ever want to have to take a baby from its mother.
“Camels are intelligent and are like elephants in that they live in family groups. We know every single one of our camels’ names.
“We have a no-kill policy for the males and the older females are allowed to live their lives peacefully as matriarchs who keep the young ones in line.”
Her camels are fed on organic pasture rather than grain. “If you feed an animal grain, for a person with a gut problem, the grain will go through the milk,” says Brisbane. They are milked just once a day, producing from 300kg to half a tonne a week. “It’s a low yield compared with what you get from cows, which is one of the reasons it’s more expensive,” she says.
And how does it taste? Camel milk is less fatty and slightly less sweet than cow milk. “It’s incredibly easy to drink and so much easier on the gut.”
“I DIDN’T EVER WANT TO HAVE TO TAKE A BABY FROM ITS MOTHER.”
LAUREN BRISBANE