Formally known as the Ontario Water Buffalo Company, farmers Martin Littkemann and Lori Smith introduced their herd of Water Buffalo to Ontario’s Artisan Cheese Region at their farm near Stirling in Hastings County about two years ago. They soon became the first to milk water buffalo in Ontario and claim to own the largest milk-producing herd in North America.
Unlike Canada, water buffalo are widely found in Italy where they are part of everyday agriculture. According to Harvest Hastings’s website, in Italy 300,000 water buffalo are milked compared to only 250,000 holsteins in Ontario. A reason why might be that milk from water buffalo is easily digestible for people with lactose intolerance and other dairy related issues. This is quickly being discovered here in Canada.
What really gets our attention is the fact that the milk from these animals is currently being processed into specialty cheeses including mozzarella di bufala. If you would like to try some, on August 28th you can attend Stirling’s Water Buffalo Food Festival featuring a street meal with talented chefs serving dishes with this cheese as well as ricotta and scamorza.
For more information, you can download the poster here. Look for our Invest in Cheese Ambassadors who will be there enjoying this cheese as well!
Contributed by Andrew Redden – Invest in Cheese Team
All things Water Buffalo
Taste! the Cheese
The Great Canadian Cheese Festival – Part 2
Hi there could I reference some of the information from this post if I reference you with a link back to your site?
Certainly Darius, thanks for asking!