Today we had the opportunity to visit a dairy buffalo farm in Torcino, a town located in the Caserta Province. Fifteen years ago, the farm began operations with 160 buffalo. Since then, the farm has grown to have 1,200 buffalo and has been maintained as a closed herd. To expand the herd, natural breeding is most commonly used however artificial insemination with sexed semen (which will try to increase the likelihood of female offspring) is also implemented in a small percentage of the animals. While at the farm we had the opportunity to discuss some reproductive parameters of the buffalo with a veterinarian. He informed us that the estrus period is hard to detect and the buffalo could be receptive anywhere from 24-48 hours. The gestation period is 310 days (longer than our dairy cows in the US) and the lactation period is 270 days (shorter than our dairy cows). Also each buffalo produces an average of 10 liters of milk per day. For natural breeding 24 females were kept in a pen with 2 males. The males had been raised together so they were not aggressive towards each other. Most females were impregnated by one male, but the other male provides potential competition which acted as motivation to the other and improves impregnation rates.
One interesting aspect of this farm is their utilization of locally grown feed from surrounding farms to provide nutrition to the buffalo. This is partially due to the tradition that dairy and meat products produced are entirely from one region in Italy (we also saw this approach used while visiting the sheep dairy farm where the pecorino cheese was made). As the feed truck enters the farm, it must pass through a decontamination bath to help reduce the amount of pathogens introduced to the farm. We were informed that Brucellosis is a problem in this region of Italy which explains some of the biosecurity measures put in place on the farm including the truck decontamination and containing the movements of trucks to one specific area in the front of the farm and away from the animal pens. Reducing the movement of trucks near the animals also helps with animal welfare in terms of reducing the noise and trucks around the animals.
Our biggest observation with this farm was that they have realized that animal welfare and positive production rates are linked, and have designed their farm with animal welfare in mind. In addition to separating the noisy trucks from the animals, the producers also have separated the animals by age group and strategically placed them in a location on the farm. For example, the lactating buffalo are kept in a pen near the milking parlor but away from the breeding animals. The producer found that having the recently bred animals near the lactating animals that were moved back and forth to the milking parlor twice a day, lead to lower fertility rates. Also, the facilities that house the animals themselves are kept very clean. The pens are open to the outside and there are fans present to ensure good ventilation in the barn. There is a protective insulated roof to provide shade from the sun. The pens are divided into a front feeding area which possesses no slip floors, a resting area with hay that is changed once weekly, and an outdoor area for walking around. On the floor in front of the feeding area there is a special material that is easy to clean to prevent mold from growing on silage. Even the workers were chosen with animal welfare in mind, commonly hailing from India and Pakistan where these animals are known to be respected, thus enhancing the human animal bond and well-being of the animals. Though the animals were not dehorned(removal of horns in Buffalo is uncommon), there was enough space in the pen that the animals had the opportunity to move around and appeared not to fight based upon the lack of wounds seen and good overall body condition of the buffalos. In general, dehorning is forbidden in the European Union (EU) after 20 days of age.
One truly unique aspect of this farm is that in 1997 it was the starting location of the electronic identification used for sheep and cattle here in the EU. As previously mentioned this region has problems with Brucellosis, a zoonotic bacterial infection. One of the main methods of disease transmission resulted from illegal movement of animals. By implementing an electronic identification system, animals can be better tracked from farm to any location they are transported to. And once this method was put in place, Italy experienced a noticeable drop in brucellosis transmission. In order to electronically track the animals, a ruminal bolus is passed orally into the rumen. This bolus then allows anyone to use a scanner to detect the animal identification number along with the ear tag number of the animal. Because the ear tag number is also recorded by the ruminal bolus if an animal loses his or her ear tag, the farmer must get a replacement ear tag with the same number. There are three different ruminal bolus sizes: 20 grams for sheep, 50 grams for sheep or cattle, and 72 grams for goats. The ruminal bolus is also used when milking an animal. Upon entry into the milking parlor, the animal is scanned and their associated identification number is recorded by a machine. This same machine will then record the quantity of milk produced by the buffalo. If the buffalo is not producing what she normally does, the machine notifies the producer. This is beneficial so the producer knows there could be something detrimental to the health of the animal.
At this buffalo farm, the procedure for milking the animals included a warm water massage of the udder followed by stripping of the teat, and finally drying of the utter before application of the milker. After milking is completed, the teats are then dipped in a decontaminant/teat sealer. The bulk tank is tested for somatic cell counts twice a month. This buffalo farm averages 50,000 Somatic cell count.
The young buffalo are separated from the mother at birth and raised in a separate area of the farm. The pens are lifted off the ground to help with sanitation and are large enough for the animals to move in a full circle. The young are fed their mother’s milk for the first 4-5 days and then are switched over to replacement milk. After 90 days of age the young are regrouped into groups of 4. The young males are kept for a year until a geneticist instructs the producers which to use for breeding. Then the remaining males are sent to slaughter. All the females are kept because of their value in dairy production.
After we had toured the farm facilities, we were invited to go to the cheese shop and see how the buffalo milk then became mozzarella cheese. We were informed the buffalo milk was pasteurized. Then a sample from the previous mozzarella batch is added to the milk to create the same flora of bacteria each time. A coagulation activator is added and after 5 hours there is a separation of liquid and solid product. The liquid part is used to make ricotta and the solid portion is used to make mozzarella. The solid portion is added to boiling water to sterilize it, completely separate it from the liquid portion, and to help provide it with a stringy characteristic. Finally it is placed in a machine to give its typical round shape. The mozzarella is then stored at 5 degrees Celsius and holes in the boxes which store the containers of mozzarella allow the internal temperature of the box to reach this low temperature. Finally, we were told how to identify buffalo cheese produced in this region. You must look for the phrase “Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP” along with a special code on the label.
To our delight, the cheese shop (which is also a restaurant) provided us with a fantastic lunch. The buffalo mozzarella was a delicious component of our various dishes including lasagna and mozzarella with prosciutto. We even finished our lunch with scrumptious cannoli made from buffalo ricotta. It was truly a wonderful experience to witness the whole production of the cheese from farm to table and we are grateful for the generosity of PuntoVitale Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP for providing us with this opportunity.
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