Niche Farming With Pasture Raised Water Buffalo

Niche Farming With Pasture Raised Water Buffalo After experiencing the rich flavor of mozzarella di bufala cheese on a trip to Italy, David and Faythe DiLoreto returned to their North Carolina farm and searched for a similar product in nearby stores. “Turns out it’s almost impossible to find in the U.S., and what we did find didn’t match the flavor we had in Italy,” David says. “Even though we weren’t farmers, we had 60 acres of pasture, so we decided to raise our own water buffalo and make our own cheese at Fading D Farm.” The DiLoretos acquired enough cows to start a milking operation and learned the cheese-making process. “Our cheese was excellent, and we produced enough to sell at local markets, at our farm and in a few stores,” David said. “The big issue was that water buffalo cows only produce about a gallon to a gallon and a half of milk per day, so our raw milk supply limited cheese production. Through better nutrition and artificial insemination with sires from higher-producing cattle in Italy, we increased milk production.” Over 8 to 10 years, the DiLoretos improved milk production by 70%. Their cows also showed better body and udder conformity. David says the value of more milk covered the cost incurred with aggressive breeding to higher value genetics. “We considered adding more cows, but labor was always an issue, so now we’re breeding for meat and milk production. We can sell about 12 animals a year to people who want them for meat, milking or as pets. We also produce several meat products that have sold well in local markets and from our farm,” David says. The Fading D Farm website shows all their products and several water buffalo meat recipes. “Water buffalo are definitely a niche market,” David says. “They’re very easy to raise, the cows thrive on our pasture, and we feed them hay during winter months when grass is dormant. The calves are born after a 10 to 10 1/2-month gestation. We bottle feed them plenty of mother’s milk, give them plenty of daily attention so they’re used to human interaction and are easy to handle when they’re mature.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Fading D Farm, 295 Fading D Rd., Salisbury, N.C. 28144 (ph 980-330-8189; fadingdfarm@gmail.com; www.fadingdfarm.com).

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