Dairy Update: August 2020

TALI EICHNER

After 10 years in the dairy at Plaw Hatch, I had thought I had the rhythm of the seasons down and knew what to expect, but this spring and summer have kept us all on our toes. The spring was very dry, which really affected the grass growth, and yet our cows gave us more milk and for a longer peak than any spring I remember. Our shop was very busy at that time, and some local delivery schemes were starting up offering our yoghurts and cheeses, so the abundance of milk was going out as fast as it was coming in; we had to run fast just to keep up! On top of this, Covid-19 caused havoc with our usual rhythms. It's not possible to have physical distance whilst working around the same vat of milk or curds, so the dairy staff split into two teams working different shifts to reduce close contact, and the dairy working time intensified and extended to between ten and fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.

It is only this month that the lack of rain earlier in the year and recent high temperatures have really started to be reflected in the milk yield. The cows are now being fed hay to supplement what little grass is growing in the fields. The dry weather (and enthusiastic pigeons!) has also really affected the growth of the soft fruit for our garden and other local growers. Usually by now we would have enough fruit stored to keep us going for the year, but we are still trying to source more and are going blackberry picking at every opportunity.

Now the intensity is reducing, along with both our milk yield and the impacts of the Covid situation, there is a little more space to breathe. We are in the process of finalising the designs for the dairy expansion that will allow us to replace our plastic pots for re-useable glass jars, as well as providing a dedicated cheesemaking space. Currently the architects are producing the drawings, whilst we plan the finer details. It’s a huge and complex project, but we are excited with each step closer we get!