From meadow to PDO: How Holsteins boost character cheeses

Bleu d’Auvergne, Bleu des Causses, Fourme d’Ambert: these three blue-veined PDO cheeses with a reputation for gourmet pleasure and character are now grouped together in an employers’ association. Pooling resources and skills, complementing strategies: the structure is designed to enable each PDO to showcase its potential, its territory and its breeders.

A change of course ... and breed

Aurélien VORGER, Director of the Groupement – himself the son of a Beaufort breeder – talks about the importance of genetics as a response to the challenges facing his industry: “Our industries are demanding. Our cheeses are complex to make. The milk has to meet specific manufacturing requirements, while reflecting the region in which it is produced.

Indeed, in lands as diverse as Aveyron and Haute-Loire, producing milk is not enough. You have to produce milk suited to a cheese-making technology that demands regularity and precision. Protein levels are key to cheese yield and firmness, while fat provides taste and softness, but excessive fat can lead to brittleness, poor draining and the risk of rancidity. A TB/TP ratio of 1.2 is therefore strategic, and this is where genetics comes into play.

Representing 40% of the population of these 3 PDOs (40% Montbéliard and 20% other breeds), Holsteins naturally bring their due in fat content, and the challenge is to TP.

"The restrictions imposed by the specifications loads, unpredictable but real thermal stress over the years limit TP levels. The ideal TB/TP ratio is in fact not present when constraints are too strong. Using extreme TP bulls will give our cows the natural aptitudes to face these periods. What you can't get from the environment, you can get from genetics. The constraints are severe: 100% of forage must be sourced locally. In these often rustic areas, with forage systems based on grazed grass and limited energy supplements, genetics will bring efficiency. We need cows that are adapted to our systems, not the other way around.

Aurélien VORGER

In addition to rates, climatic issues and heat stress are bringing other criteria to the fore: metabolic health, feed efficiency impacting carbon balance and methane emissions… SYNETICS genetics and high-performance bulls for milk quality, combined with the GENOSANTE program, are becoming a real lever for these farms, which are subject to multiple pressures: PDO requirements, global warming, market trends…

“No two farms are identical, but they do have things in common: the use of grass, respect for quality charters and the exploitation of local resources. It’s up to us to provide coherent solutions, adapted to each individual breeder. Genetics are part of this, and Holsteins, with their versatility, efficiency and ability to meet the challenges of the industry, are a precious ally for the long-term survival of blue-veined PDOs, their territories and their breeders. UNYGANN P, UHLU, UBRIKA, UNICHROME, UTOPIC RF are our top picks to meet this demand!