A LITTLE STORY, ABOUT OUR PROCESS
There is always time for a cup of milk.
GRAZING
It all starts with a whole lot of milk, which we are Typically cows spend about 8 hours eating, 8 hours sleeping and 8 hours ruminating or chewing their cud. Cows are usually provided with a fresh paddock of grass in the morning after milking and another fresh paddock of grass in the evening after milking. They may also be fed some grain in the dairy while being milked and Hay or Silage (conserved forage) proud to source from regional farms that provide us milk from cows not treated with added growth hormones like rBST
HARVESTING
MILK
Cows are normally milked 2 times per day, however some high producing herds are milked 3 times per day. Normally cows are milked at about 6 am in the morning and again at about 5 pm in the evening. Milking time takes about 5 minutes per cow but depends on the type of machine and the amount of milk the cow is producing. Most dairies have enough machines to milk 20 to 40 cows at one time, reducing the amount of time the cows wait to be milked. Milking machines mimic the action of a young calf by creating a pulsating vacuum around the teat, which causes the milk to be released from the udder.
MILK
Milk storage vats or silos are refrigerated and come in various shapes and sizes. Milk is stored on farm at 4 degrees Celsius and less for no longer than 48 hours. Vats and silos are agitated to make sure that the entire volume remains cold and milkfat does not separate from the milk. After milk has been collected, storage vats and stainless steel pipes are thoroughly cleaned before the farmer milks again.
TESTING
Samples of milk are taken from farm vats prior to collection and from the bulk milk tanker on arrival at the factory. Samples from the bulk milk tanker are tested for antibiotic and temperature before the milk enters the factory processing area. Farm milk samples are tested for milkfat/protein/bulk milk cell count and bacteria count. If milk is unsuitable for our quality products the milk will be rejected. Most farmers are paid on quality and composition of their milk and it is extremely important that these samples are collected and stored correctly.
MILK
Whole milk, once approved for use, is pumped into storage silos where it undergoes pasteurisation, homogenisation and further processing.
