Little Milk Company is a big cheese with the connoisseurs
“The cows get around 80100kg of meal in the springtime. Once they calve it is grass. We don’t start calving until the end of February as grass is a month later here. Up to this year we got the feed from England but this year it is available in Ireland delivered in bulk in or about 500/t. It’s expensive and that is why we don’t feed tooo much of it.”
There are also 75ac of forestry on the farm, a hardwood plantation which has been established over the past 12-18 years under the forestry scheme.
“I was interested in planting the trees to offset the carbon emissions generated on the farm and particularly to offset the methane from the cows. This is very much an integrated feature on the farm giving aesthetic, practical and economic value.”
Fintan and Valerie have a son Louis, who is showing some interest in farming, and two daugthers Laura and Jennifer, and they feel that the model they are operating may be more attractive to future generations.
“I have been milking cows for many years now and to make a living out of 60 cows is certainly a challenge. That is why doing what we are doing as a company is so important. It gives us greater control over our milk and what we do at farm level as a result of that. There is a lot of work involved in it but also a financial gain and it is paying dividend to the farmers involved,” adds Fintan. THE Little Milk Company are a group of 10 organic dairy farmers who have come together to sell artisan cheeses made from their own milk.
Based in Munster and Leinster, the idea originated from a discussion group back in 2008 and was driven forward by farmers Pat Mulrooney and John Liston.
The IOFGA members sold their first cheese in 2013 and have gone from strength to strength. Conor Mulhall general manager, is this week exhibiting their cheese range at Biofach the largest European organic trade show, taking place in Nuremburg, Germany.
“The market for organic cheese continues to grow and we see demand for quality products increasing. We currently pay 60c/l for winter milk and we continue to use more volume annually,” says Conor.
Recently The Little Milk Company and Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers co-won a Coup de Coeur Award in France for their Cashel Blue Organic cheese.
International attention
“It means a lot to win an award like this in France as everywhere you go the French are famous for their cheese production,” says Conor.
“It certainly opens doors for us and garners international attention in the cheese world.”
Cashel Blue Organic is produced using milk from Fintan Rice’s herd. The cheese is made by Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers who are 15km from Fintan’s farm.
“Over the years we explored the idea of making an organic cheese however it never came to fruition, usually because our speciality markets were not interested in an organic cheese,” says Sarah Furno from Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers.
“We knew Fintan as a local farmer with excellent husbandry skills and when an opportunity arose to work with his milk we jumped at it. “We knew the milk would be great quality, and his once a day milking system combined with his unusual breed we felt it would make a wonderful cheese.”
Cashel Blue Organic is made to the original Cashel Blue recipe which was created in 1984 by Sarah’s parents, husband and wife Louis and Jane Grubb.
“People do recognise it as being different than the classic Cashel Blue, but this cheese certainly has its own place due to the characteristics and taste.
“We have presented it at speciality shows and people are really excited about it and we are happy to bring something new and unique to that sector. Why can’t organic be linked with really good quality as well as sustainability,” adds Sarah.
With yet another award winning cheese to add to their repertoire the Little Milk Company seem to be well on their way to achieving exactly what they set out to do.