Cows are the apple of her eye

Jessa had previously been a dairy farmer but that partnership came to an end in 2018 with the sale of stud Holsteins. As part of the settlement, she kept 17 cows that she had bred.

When Jessa and Ben bought the small organic apple orchard in 2020, there wasn’t enough land to milk a commercial herd.

“We still had seven cows in milk, so we milked them once a day with a bucket milker and reared the calves while working full-time off-farm,” Jessa said.

As numbers built, they had to come up with another option, so they sent the milking cows to be housed with friends in Warragul.

“My friends needed numbers, we knew the cows could produce well and we still wanted to build our herd, so it was a win for both of us,” Jessa said.

“The cows are still very much a huge passion for me.”

All up they have about 75 cows, mostly Holsteins but also including about 15 Normandes, crosses and a few brown Swiss.

While her dairy cows are at Warragul, Jessa and Ben are branching into paddock-to-plate Normandes, raising them as beef cows and rearing their calves on their small farm.

They also milk a house cow, but with legislation around raw milk they can’t go into sales.

“We’d be too small to be a viable dairy enterprise, but we plan to breed the Normandes,” Jessa said.

“Anything that is a good milker or who has the high-end genetics from the imported embryos from France will be sent to the commercial dairy in Warragul and then we will have a beef Normande herd for paddock-to-plate beef for the local area.”

Jessa is secretary of the newly-formed Australian Normande Cattle Association, which aims to educate people about the breed’s dual purpose for beef and dairy and drive up local numbers.

There are less than 1000 Normande cows in Australia and only about 50 purebreds, but Jessa and the association see the potential for growth.

“We think they will excel in three-way crosses, cross-breeding herds or hobby farms,” she said.

“They have a high carcase yield for beef but you’re not sacrificing dairy to use them — they are still a good dairy-producing cow with a beautiful quality of solids, high fertility, low cell count and they’re really hardy with low health issues.”

Jessa and Ben have no plans to go into full-time dairy farming, but Jessa likes having a toe in each pond.

“I’m in an incredibly lucky position where I’ve got milking cows at a friend’s place and at the same time bring the beef calves home and set that up,” she said.

“I’ve spent a lot of money on cows and semen, but it pays for itself.”

Ben, Jessa and their two young daughters love to live off the land.

“I love the sustainability of the cows,” Jessa said.

“I can have my house cow, rear her calf and I’ve also got fresh milk for cream and butter.

“Then we’re growing vegetables and we’ve got fresh beef and we know where our food is coming from.”