Jersey cows are pastured at a grassland of the Hiruzen Dairy Farming Agricultural Cooperative in Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture.
OKAYAMA, Oct. 3 – The city of Maniwa in Okayama Prefecture is known as Japan’s largest breeding area for Jersey milk cows, raising 2,000 such cows, about 20% of those reared nationwide.
Brown cows can be seen grazing peacefully in the 40-hectare pastures in the Hiruzen Highlands, located in the northern part of the city at an altitude of 550 to 650 meters.
The Jersey is a breed of dairy cattle from Jersey, the largest island of the British Channel Islands. They have brown hair and are characteristically friendly.
Because Jerseys are smaller in size than Holstein cows and produce less milk, they are rare in Japan, occupying less than 1% of the country’s dairy cow population.
Raw Jersey milk naturally has higher fat and protein content, and is popular for its rich and creamy taste.
In Maniwa, 24 dairy farmers who are members of the Hiruzen Dairy Farming Agricultural Cooperative raise Jersey cows.
The farm coop takes care of calves for two years after birth at its rearing ranch and returns the cows to member farms after inseminating them in order to reduce the farmers’ burden.
The Hiruzen Highlands used to be an army training ground before World War II.
The government attempted to make the area into farmlands after the war, but the highlands were not suitable for rice farming due to heavy snowfall and volcanic soils.
Therefore, in 1954 and 1955, the area purchased from New Zealand and Australia 446 Jersey cows which are well-suited to digest and absorb coarse feed.
The dairy farm coop conducted soil improvement to grow high-quality pastures, turning uncultivated fields into grasslands to build the dairy farming area of today.
Cows pregnant for the first time are put out to the pastures during the grazing period between April and November to build up physical strength and ease stress.
“The scenery of cows spending time in a carefree manner is the treasure of this region,” says Mitsuru Nagatsune, head of the farm coop. “We hope to send to many people the blessings of Jersey cows which grow up eating grasses of Hiruzen.”
Mitsuru Nagatsune, head of the Hiruzen Dairy Farming Agricultural Cooperative, shows photographs of Jersey cows taken roughly 70 years ago. Before the development of pastures, farmers were raising cows on mountainous areas.
A worker produces Caciocavallo, a round, gourd-shaped cheese made from raw Jersey milk.