Dating back to medieval times, Gruyere is one of the most famous cheeses in the world, and can only be produced in certain areas of Switzerland.
Even though proper Swiss Gruyere cheese is protected by a Appellation d’origine protegee (AOP), basically a protected designation of origin, the French have, perhaps controversially, also created their own alternative.
Gruyere AOP takes its name from the Gruyere region, in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, and has been produced according to the same traditional recipe since 1115.
Today, it is made in the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura and in some municipalities in the canton of Bern.
For Swiss farmers, though, who produce the milk for the Gruyere cheese, the stipulations surrounding production techniques, are extremely strict and there is zero tolerance for deviation from the rules.
Providing milk for Gruyere cheese
One of those farmers is Rene Durand, who milks only 22 cows with his wife Zoe and son Dominic. Their farm is quite a unique set-up totalling 37ha in two locations at Muhleberg and Niederhunigen, both in the canton of Bern.
Rene said: “We own 16ha which is now not so suitable to run a dairy enterprise from as it is in the middle of Niederhunigen village. It was bought by my parents in 2013, who were dairy farmers for 35 years and milked 24 cows there from 2013 to 2018.
“Since 2019 we keep around 40 young cattle there including five in a breeding contract with another farmer.”
Their second farm at Muhleberg is home to the dairy herd of 22 cows and has been leased by Rene since 2019.
The fields are mostly in grass with some wheat, rapeseed, barley and corn grown for animal feed and 1.5ha of peas for human consumption.
Strict production regime
Prices for the milk from Rene’s cows are among the highest in Switzerland, but that’s also because he has to jump through hoops to stick to the strict regulations such as no silage feeding or robotic milking allowed.
“We run 22 Red Holstein cows,” Rene said. “Our standard lactation over 305 days averages 10,555kg per cow per year, over the past five years. The milk is 4% butterfat, 3.4% protein and has a cell count of 60,000.”
Like most farmers in Switzerland, Rene farms under the ecological banner, which is called Ecological Performance Proof, OLN. This means they must fulfil certain farming obligations in order to reduce the environmental damage caused by agriculture.
On top of this Rene has to adhere to the production regulations set when producing milk for the Gruyere cheese, which can be challenging.
Rene said: “As part of these regulations we are not allowed to feed the cows silage, only fresh grass and hay, and we can only milk them twice per day in a conventional milking parlour, no milking with robots is allowed.
“If milking is carried out more often, the Lipase, or fat cells in the milk, is too weak and the cheese becomes rancid.
“In the winter, our cows are kept indoors in the tie-stall barn. We feed them dry grass cubes, sugar beet cubes, concentrated feed and molasses. They can move freely in the yard for one hour per day.
“Our summer period lasts for up to eight months during which the cows eat at pasture for four hours per day. They are also fed in the barn a diet comprising fresh grass, whole plant corn cubes, drought feed and concentrated feed,” he explained.
Breeding
Rene uses artificial insemination (AI) on all his cows using Red Holstein genetics and breeds strictly for milk quality, which is essential for good cheese production.
He said: “Despite the fact that we only milk 22 cows, between 25 and 30 cow calves are born each year. We sell many young cows in their first lactation. Depending on the year, 80 to 90% of the young cows go to the auction.
“Livestock breeding is very important for our company, we select the young cows very strictly. Since our milk is processed into raw milk cheese, the quality of the milk is very important.”
In typical Swiss style, Rene sends some cattle over 100-days-old up into the Alps for summer grazing.
Helping Rene on the farm is his wife Zoe, son Dominic, his parents Jakob and Ursula Durand, one employee and one part-time employee.
Rene’s cows are milked in an old Surge pipe milking machine and the milk to produce Gruyere cheese achieves the highest prices in Switzerland.
“Our milk is sold in two batches. The first is A quantity, around 180,000kg, which sells for 90 centimes (€0.93/kg or UK£0.80/kg). Our B quantity, around 20,000kg, sells for 68 centimes (€0.70/kg or UK£0.60/kg).
“We try to invest regularly in new technology for the dairy herd and facilities. During the last five years we have invested in the barn facilities to increase cow comfort.
“Also, I bought a dehumidifier to dry the hay quicker, an electric Kuratli feed mixer wagon, and a new loader wagon.”
Any expansion for Rene is difficult as he is a tenant on the farm, but his wish is to buy a farm to secure the future of milking cows for his family.
