‘They are like a wife – they are with you for life, but I love them’

BUFFALO are very stubborn animals who take a great deal of coaxing and cajoling when they are in a bad mood, explains Johnny Lynch.

“If they don’t want to do something they will dig their feet in and that’s the way it will be. If they don’t want to be milked they will do everything to stop you milking them.”

This degree of stubborness is not an everyday occurrence with the herd but it shows the difference between the Buffalo and Friesians which Johnny previously milked.

“But I love them, they are like a wife – they are with you for life, and it doesn’t take a big fence to keep them in. An ordinary line of electric wire will do that,” says Johnny.

Their feeding regime is also different from the Friesians in that they prefer haylage to silage.

“They don’t like silage or any wet feed. Nothing stringy. They prefer the drier stuff so we give them the haylage. It works out the same cost wise.”

The buffalo milk production levels are two thirds less than that from a dairy herd.

“You’d get 10 litres a day from a buffalo and they would milk for between 230 and 250 days a year which would be about a third of the milk you would get from a Friesian. But the fats (7.8pc) and proteins (4.6pc) would be better,” says Johnny.

However, it is the add-on value of the buffalo milk which makes the Macroom artisan cheese enterprise profitable - and a lot more profitable than simply milking a Friesian herd for the co-op. The milking regime at Macroom would also differ from the normal dairy routine in that the milking is linked to the cheese production which in turn is linked to the market demands for Macroom Buffalo cheese.

“There’s no alarm clock here on the farm. We could be milking at 3am if we had a cheese order to get out the door but normally we start milking at 7am,” says Johnny.

He has no regrets about going down the buffalo route and points out that the enterprise has given a great buzz to the area.

“When I was milking the Friesians loneliness was a way of life. You’d be lucky to see one person around the area on any day. Now the place is buzzing,” he adds.