Winter is coming. At the beginning of November, a low white sun shines on the Latvian meadows. We drive to Vaidava, to meet Elizabete and Maris on their small farm that they bought a few years ago. It is ten o'clock and our shadows are stretching on the ground, as well as those of Elizabete's sheep, calves and chickens. She is the main manager of the family farm, while Maris works at sea and is away two months out of four. There is a little bit of everything here! A hundred or so Friesian and Suffolk ewes, chickens, geese, bees, calves for fattening of various breeds... But Elizabete's main activity is her thirty dairy sheep, which she milks once a day. With their milk, she makes homemade ice cream, yoghurt and cheese, which she sells at the markets three times a week. Her good products also supply a restaurant in the nearby town. All in all, Elizabete has a small farm with a production and sales method that is rather atypical for Latvia, where large dairy farms occupy about 50% of the country's agricultural area.
Photos from left to right. 1 & 2. Farm of Elizabete and Maris. 3. Suffolk and Friesian sheep. 4. Calves on pasture
At Elizabete and Maris' house, we see a cow and some calves of a very special colour: blue. What is it? Her name is "Latvijas Zila" in Latvian, or "Latvian blue" in English. It's a symbol for the country and a national pride for those who raise it because it is the oldest Latvian cow. This breed is becoming rare in the country's meadows, so much so that an association of passionate farmers has been formed to save it from extinction. It is called Blue for its characteristic bluish-grey coat, which covers its dark skin. She has two white half-moon horns with black tips. An original little cow. It's understandable that Latvian breeders love her! She has both dairy and beef skills, but her main quality is her fat-rich milk.
Photo. Latvian Blue Cow at Elizabete and Maris' farm
Elizabete and Maris have recently joined the Latvian Blue breeders. A year ago, they bought their first cow and, as time goes by, they want to build up a small herd of about ten head. With the milk from latvian blue cows, Elizabete wants to expand its range of products. Today, one cow and three Blue calves are living on the farm. Elizabete and Maris explain that not all the animals are pure Blue. Some individuals have only 50% Blue blood. Indeed, the Latvian Blue breed is a small breed. About 200 individuals graze in Latvian pastures today, so the race is suffering from an increasing rate of inbreeding. In order to maintain the health and sustainability of the breed, the conservation programme run by the breeders' association incorporates Brown Latvian breeding stock (a descendant of the Blue one) to reduce inbreeding.
Photo. Blue Latvian calf.
In the meadows of Elizabete and Maris, the herds are guarded by dogs. On one side, two Pyrenean shepherd dogs protect the calves. On the other side, a handsome and imposing Central Asian shepherd dog protects the sheep. Two predators are lurking around the meadows: the wolf and the lynx. Elizabete and Maris have already seen the glowing eyes of the wolf in the night, but so far there have been no deaths from predation. The dogs are doing their job well. Despite predation, the cattle and sheep on the farm graze all year round. In winter, the animals receive hay, silage and cereals. Elizabete and Maris buy cereals and hay because they do not have enough land to produce it themselves. The ewes only come to the barn for two months of the year, for lambing in January. This type of farming is not unanimously supported in Latvia. "For some people, it's easier to keep everyone in a building all year round. It's safe, there's no more predation and it's less work," smiles Maris. Wolf predation is the most important and, according to Maris, is constantly increasing. He points to the deforested plots a few hundred meters away. "It is because the forests are being cut down that predators are approaching our herds. There is less and less food for them" explains Maris.
Photos 1 and 2. At Elizabete and Maris, two Pyrenean shepherd dogs look after the calves in the pasture.
Forestry is one of the main activities in Latvia, and one that provides jobs. Not far from Vaidava, Normund can attest to this: before building his farm, he worked for a forestry company for many years. In the 1990s, he inherited an old house in the village of Drusti. Built around 1687 under Swedish rule, the building was the first school in the village. Normund and his wife Valda converted the old school into a house and built a cow shed. Together they keep a herd of 50 dairy cows on some 120 hectares of grassland. The herd is also diverse, with a mix of Latvian Blue and Brown, Normande, Black Pied Holstein and Red Holstein. They also keep a small flock of local goats, geese, chickens and bees. We met them in the Latvian rain, while our feet were walking in a soft pasture like a sponge... The time of sunny and bucolic landscapes is definitely over!
Photos from left to right. 1. Traditional stable of Valda and Normund. 2. Some Latvian goats in the barn. 3. Latvian Blue Calf
"This is the biggest herd of Blue cows you will see in the country!" say Normund talking about his cows. For as beautiful, local and original as the Latvian Blue is, it produces an average of 5,000 litres of milk per year, much less than the high-producing breeds, which produce around 11,000 litres! It is therefore only found on small-scale farms, such as those of Elizabete and Maris or Normund and Valda, where breeding is not the only source of household income. However, the Latvian Blue has some qualities that deserve attention: "It's an easy cow to raise. She never gets sick and she knows how to find food on the poor pastures here. Until a few centuries ago, the land here was covered with forest. The characteristics of the soil do not allow for anything other than grass to grow here" explain Normund and Valda.
Photos from left to right. 1. Valda and Normund's herd. 2. Latvian Blue. 3. Latvian Brown
Did you know?
- The cow that came from the sea
The exact origin of the blue cow is not known. Could it be linked to the Indo-European population movements in Latvia? Or a link to blue-grey cows from Scandinavia? Nobody really knows.
A legend says:
"One day a girl came out of the sea to graze her cows in the nearby pastures. The owner caught her and confiscated her cows. The girl went back into the sea crying, but seven blue cows remained here. Today's blue cows are all descended from them.
Perhaps this story of the blue cow is the most beautiful of all.
Photo. Blue cow discovered in an alley in the capital : Riga
- Festive cheese
We talked a bit about cheese specialties with Elizabete, Maris, Normund and Valda. "Latvia is not known for its many cheeses, like France," Normund told us. It is true that there is not much cheese processing here. "In Latvia we produce milk, we sell it to Lithuanians who make cheese from it and we buy their cheese", he laughs. Even so, in Latvia they make a very special cheese in the summer. Elizabete and Maris, Normund and Valda, are no exception and make this famous cheese for their own consumption: the so-called Jāņu siers. When they talk about it, it is with a big smile! Jāņu siers is consumed at the time of Jāņi, a Latvian festival which celebrates the summer solstice, on 23 and 24 June. It is made from the curds of cooked milk to which a mixture of egg, butter, salt and caraway seeds is added. It is a festive cheese, always accompanied by a good amount of alcohol!