The Milk Producer - February 2009 - (Page 50)

THEBACKFORTY By Sharon Laidlaw Whey delicious A long tradition of fattening hogs finds new life on the dinner plates of luxury restaurants L ast issue, I wrote about whey being used by the Washington State Department as an antiicer to keep state roads clear of ice and snow. Recently, a colleague e-mailed me a link to a story that appeared in The Globe and Mail about whey-fed pork and how one well-known chef in Toronto travels 90 minutes west of the city to buy this sought-after meat from a Mennonite farm. David Martin, an Orthodox Mennonite and pig producer near Wallenstein, Ont., began feeding his pigs daily with whey last spring. A byproduct of cheesemaking, whey is rich in protein and minerals. This is not a new phenomenon. Feeding hogs whey is a longstanding tradition dating back to the 19th century. Whey-fed pigs are said to be tender and have a creamy, nutty flavour. Pine River Cheese started out in 1885 manufacturing and selling cheese and butter, as well as buying, fattening and selling hogs. It used to ship up to 89,000 pounds of whey daily to hog farms to feed pigs. Prosciutto di Parma, a popular Italian ham, is made from hogs fed whey that comes from making Parmigiano Reggiano or parmesan cheese. Today, whey-fed pork is considered a luxury item and is common in high-end U.S. restaurants. Canada is slowly catching on to this new idea. Martin started feeding his pigs whey after Ruth Klahsen, owner of Montforte Dairy, suggested he try it. Fed a diet of corn, wheat, barley and oats, the 130 pigs drink about 5,000 to 6,000 litres of whey per week via hoses running from an overhead storage tank. Commercially raised pork sells for about 80 cents a pound wholesale, whereas Martin’s meat fetches $2 to $2.50 a pound. This gives new meaning to the term, where there’s a will, there’s a whey. With files from an article appearing in The Globe and Cartoon by Brian Fray Mail, Whey-fed, way delicious. DID YOU KNOW? dairy farmers in China play music to their cows? A trend, some say, that is gaining in popularity. Dairy farmer Liu Haichuan plays an electronic organ to his cows at his dairy farm in Meihekou, Jilin Province in China. A China Conservatory of Music graduate, Haichuan built his dairy farm in 2007 and decided playing music was an effective way of communicating and connecting with his cows. In a nearby village near Luoyang, Guo Zhixin pays a musician to play music to his 860 cows for one hour every morning. He believes music helps cows produce more milk. In one year, it resulted in $120 worth of extra milk, he claims. Source: www.milkindustry.com. 50 | February 2009 | MilkPRODUCER http://www.milkindustry.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Milk Producer - February 2009

The Milk Producer - February 2009
Contents
Editor's Notes
DFO Chair's Message
Dairy Update
DFC Promotion
Industry Roundup
Issues Update
Research
Applied Science
Ruminations
Markets
New'n'Noted
Back Forty

The Milk Producer - February 2009