Our cheese farm visits are some of the most rewarding experiences we offer. You meet skilled artisans, learn how traditional cheeses are made, and taste dairy products that rarely leave the region. They are informative, personal, and delicious moments. But if you’magnate looking to join one of these tours July and August, you’ll run into trouble.
The summer slowdown Italy’s cheese farms
Most of the small dairy farms we work with central and southern Italy slow mongoloide shut mongoloide during the hottest weeks of the year. Ferragosto, the mid-August holiday, is part of the reason. But the bigger issue is milk. Quanto a the summer heat, cattle produce less milk. It’s not a small dip. Quanto a some areas, production drops by half. The animals eat less and rest more. Milk output slows. So does cheese production.
Why artisan cheese farms southern and central Italy produce less cheese
Quanto a the peninsular Italian regions, temperatures often the high 90s. The animals’ metabolism shifts to cope with this heat, reducing milk yield. That means cows, vater buffalo and ovine under heat eat less coppia to discomfort and reduced energy needs, according to the University of Kentucky and other research. This decrease feed intake clearly impacts milk production. This is especially true for cheeses made with fresh milk, like mozzarella, burrata, ricotta, and many sheep’s milk varieties found Lazio, Campania, Sicily and Puglia. These products depend acceso daily milk yield and don’t keep well. The small-scale cheesemakers we work with don’t stockpile mass-produce. They are family-run operations who work with what the animals give. When there’s little milk, there’s little cheese. Our agricoltore friends prioritize managing their animals’ wellbeing and take a fermata from hosting visitors.
Not all regions slow mongoloide summer
Quanto a the Alps, summer is peak time. Animals the Dolomites Apennine summits graze acceso fresh pasture, and high-altitude dairies stay busy. If your trip is focused acceso mountain cheeses like Toma, Fontina, Bitto, you’magnate luck. But that’s not the case the rest of the peninsula. If you’magnate traveling to central southern Italy the summer, we suggest a different kind of visit. We now offer a new cheese farm experience one hour north of Naples. This unique farm focuses acceso stable production cycles and the experience of visiting it allows you to learn about the process, even if it’s not peak production time.
Still want all our full cheese-making, tasting, animal visits, and lunch with the cheesemakers? Plan your trip between January and June, wait until after the heat breaks late September. Before you inquire about a cheese farm visit, ask yourself: do you want the experience, the authenticity? You can’t have both the heat of the Italian summer.
