Happy cows recipe for better class of milk, study suggests

Happy cows could be the key to better milk. One WA dairy scored particularly well in a recent study.

Bannister Downs dairy farm at Northcliffe in Western Australia.

Healthy, happy cows may produce higher-quality milk, according to researchers studying the vitamin and mineral profile of milk from dairies across Western Australia.

While the milk from all six WA dairies tested showed high levels of B12, B2, calcium, and lactoferrin, a dairy part-owned by billionaire Gina Rinehart stood out for its particularly high vitamin and calcium content.

The researchers said early results indicated the high scores of the award-winning Bannister Downs Dairy in Northcliffe could be related to management of the herd and pasteurisation techniques used.

The 18-month research project has been led by the Food Science and Nutrition Centre at Murdoch University with the aim of investigating whether nutritional differences exist in milk from different producers. The next phase will aim to determine the exact drivers behind the higher-quality product by testing it against other variables.

Bannister Downs is jointly owned by the Daubney family and Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

“It’s interesting because we’ve been producing consumer milk for more than 18 years now and in that time a lot of people have said, ‘what do you do differently?’, and so we’ve been aware that our milk is different, but not really sure why,” Bannister Downs managing director Sue Daubney said.

“That’s how the research project kicked off.

“First was to establish that it was different, which we have done, through a quality matrix that gives a score to all of the different elements in the milk.

“It came out really well and the next question to answer is why, and it is wonderful to think that it could be because we’re doing the right thing.”

Among the on-farm facilities credited with making the cows at Bannister Downs more comfortable is a new automatic milking rotary, one of four in Australia, that enables cows to be milked when they are ready.

They can be milked depending on their stage of lactation, increasing their comfort. The dairy also has an automatic feeder and massage brushes.

“It’s about welfare and health and having calm cows with no stress, and also looking after their nutrition,” Ms Daubney said.

While most dairies pasteurise milk at 72 degrees for 15 seconds, Bannister Downs heats its milk to 66 degrees for five minutes. The milk is also bottled on-farm.

Lead researcher Vicky Solah said the many little steps taken to produce milk at Bannister appeared to all add up to a quality product.

“From a scientific point of view they’re doing really interesting things on the farm,” she said.

Dr Solah said all of the milk products tested performed strongly.