Looking after the land

The Land:

• Traditional grassland pastures sown with mixed longterm grass seed varieties renowned for grazing cows
• The salt deposits in the Cheshire Plain, help to produce the milk needed to make true Cheshire Cheese
• Manure from the farm is used to fertilise the land
• The Countryside Stewardship Scheme places an emphasis on the wildlife and environment

The Cows:

• Cows are bred to ensure the right balance of milk for cheesemaking
• The welfare of the cows is a priority and they have light and spacious housing
• Two new open plan cow sheds have been recently built, giving the cows a light and airy environment and good access to their feed and water
• The cows have individual cubicles and they are given daily bedding with straw and sawdust
• The cows graze on the salty pastures of the Cheshire Plain
• The diet is a mix of grazed grass, maize silage, wholecrop silage and grass silage – our long term grass mixtures are selected to give the cows the best possible variety in their grazing
• The cows are milked through a modern rotary milking parlour. This facility reduces the milking time and the stress on the cows

The Milk:

• Appleby’s milk travels from pasture to parlour to cheese dairy
• The Head Cheesemaker, Garry Gray, is fully equipped to use his cheesemaking skills to produce Appleby’s cheese from our own unpasteurised milk
• Only unpasteurised milk from the farm herd is used to make cheese, so there is total quality control
• The on-farm link between herdsman and cheesemaker is crucial in understanding the variables in the milk each day
• Appleby’s milk is used to make Appleby’s cheese on the Appleby’s farm