There are also gourmets among cows. In spring and summer, the diet of these ruminants consists of fresh grass with lots of aromatic herbs. When winter comes, hay is on the menu.

However, only around three percent of all cows in Europe can enjoy this natural food. The milk from these cows is called hay milk.

Most of the rest of the cows have to make do with silage as feed in the barn. Feed that has been fermented with lactic acid based on grass, maize, soy or other cereals. However, this feed leads to the development of bacteria in the milk, which makes it difficult or even impossible to produce hard cheese and raw milk cheese from the milk.

Herbs that taste good to experts

Dairy sommeliers (yes, they do exist) taste the fresh grass and the many herbs in hay milk. We’re not sure if we’d be able to taste the herbs in a blind test, but what we do enjoy eating is raw milk cheese and mountain cheese.

And it is precisely there, in the mountains, that the secret of hay milk lies. The most delicious herb meadows can be found in the foothills of the Alps and on the mountain pastures in the mountains. Hard work that is enormously important for the preservation of the varied landscape so valued by tourism.

Grazing cows prevent the forest from spreading and promote plant biodiversity on the pastures.

Cheese varieties that taste good to all cheese lovers

Those who like expressive mountain cheeses and raw milk cheeses enjoy cheeses made from hay milk. However, hay milk is becoming rarer.

The hard work on the mountain pastures, such as mowing the grass on steep slopes and tending to it day and night, seems attractive to only a few.

The rapid increase in wolf packs is another problem. It is almost impossible to erect protective fences in the mountains to keep wolves out. More and more farmers are therefore reluctantly giving up sending their cattle to the mountain pastures, as they did many centuries ago.

Hay milk is a brand

In 2004, resourceful Austrians came up with the idea of creating a brand for the best quality milk: Haymilk. They wanted to express what the cows that produce this high-quality milk, which even contains a higher proportion of the important omega-3 fatty acids compared to conventional milk, feed on.

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The Haymilk Working Group now works across borders in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. They help the predominantly small farmers, who follow the strict feeding principle of hay milk, to achieve a higher appreciation of milk and a slightly higher milk price.

The green logo of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Heumilch can be found on the milk packaging. In addition to cheese, butter, yogurt and quark are also made from hay milk. Look out for it and let us know if you can taste the herbs.

Please note: The increasingly popular herbs on the cheese rind do not always have anything to do with hay milk, but are often just decoration. Ask the cheesemonger, he will tell you exactly which cheeses in his range are made from hay milk.

You are on the safer side with raw milk cheese, but you need an expert for mountain cheese. In Frankfurt, we trust our esteemed cheesemonger Käsestube, who provides expert advice and knows the origin of every cheese he stocks in his store.

We hope you have an equally good cheesemonger in your area. What you can rely on in any case: Your taste.

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