Page 31 - Interface February Issue 2025

DID YOU KNOW?

Irene Farm’s Certified Raw Milk: 130 years of quality

History and facts of the farm & cows

IRENE FARM HAS BEEN PRODUCING AND SELLING RAW MILK TO THE PUBLIC FOR
OVER 130 YEARS. GIVEN OUR EXTREMELY STRICT AND RIGOROUS HEALTH, HYGIENE
AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMMES, OUR MILK HAS ALWAYS BEEN OF THE HIGHEST
QUALITY. WE APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE OUR MILK TO YOU.

• A.H Nellmapius purchased the property in 1889 and renamed it Irene Estate.
• 70 Friesland cows were imported by Nellmapius. The existing cows are all descendants of the
original 70 cows.

• J. A van der Byl became the new owner of the Irene Estate in 1896.
• Our cows get milked twice daily, at 03:30am and again at 14:30pm, meaning, every 12 hours our
cows are milked, to ensure they get enough rest in between to graze and eat enough.

• Our average milk production per cow is around 17 litres per milking.
• The cows walk an average of 5km’s a day, grazing around our pastures on the Farm.
• Our Friesland cows eat roughage such as grass and corn which makes up about 92% of their diet,
the remaining 8% is feed from Epol.
• We plant winter grass in April to ensure our pastures remain
green throughout the winter for our cows.
*Silage maize is a high-energy
• We also produce our own silage maize* that we plant in
feed made from the whole maize
October for winter feeds, which we then cut and chop and plant that has been preserved through
then ferment. We start feeding this in May when the grass fermentation. It’s a valuable source of
starts to lose their nutritional value. food for ruminant livestock like cattle
and sheep.
• We also produce around 2 500 bales of Eragrostis Grass**
**Eragrostis Grass is annual hay grass.
(‘weeping love grass) a year. This is produced on another
It is very leafy and has fine stems.
farm and provides our cows with extra roughage grass
It is quick to establish and can be
that they need. ready for hay making within
65-75 days.
• Our cows drink water an average of 15 times a day for
about 30 seconds at a time. They can consume about
120-140 litres per day, depending on the temperature on the day.
The hotter it is the more they drink.
• Milk production can change during the spring, winter and summer and can also affect the cream
content in the milk during seasons.
• Keep in mind that the more milk a cow gives in the summer, the less cream there is in the milk,
during winter time when it gives less.