Why is stable grassland important for hay milk production?
The term ” permanent grass land” refers to natural meadows in which spontaneous grasses grow without human intervention: no ploughing, no tillage, just mowing. Before the advent of modern agriculture, the permanent meadows were the natural setting in which all the historical events of Friuli took place.
The permanent meadows in the Friuli Venezia Giulia territory represent a precious reservoir of biodiversity; in fact, they are the ideal habitat for many animals and can host many herbaceous species even on small areas, some of which are of considerable interest.
Stable grassland is so important that it has prompted the Italian legislator and the European Union to protect it in various ways. The Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region has created a real mapping of permanent grasslands, which can be consulted on this site: http://bit.ly/34fahOR
The La Sisile Organic Farm has 20 hectares of permanent grassland in Talmassons, where what nature decides to grow grows, without any fertilization or irrigation on our part. We just harvest what we find twice a year, in late May and August.
In summer, the cows that come up to the pasture at Malga Montasio find at their disposal the stable meadows of the plateau, where the adventure of our cheese was born several centuries ago.
It is clear at this point the correlation Stable Meadow and Hay Milk production. Feeding treated in this way, with stable meadow, graminaceous hay, Spanish grass, all strictly organic, gives our milk and our cheeses a special flavor, which is certainly not found in the cheeses of industrial producers who feed their animals with silage and feed based on legumes or feed containing GMOs.
Our approach to feeding has allowed us to obtain, among the first in Italy, the Latte Fieno stg certification. Our Montasio dop is produced exclusively with our hay milk, and preserves its richness of flavour.
Want to learn more about permanent lawns? There are so many resources online on this topic. We recommend a site created by Roberto Pizzuti, specifically for Friuli-Venezia Giulia: https://digilander.libero.it/brepbrep/2-82.htm