For over 40 years, Michael Wohlstadt has produced milk and meat in the Barossa Valley. His Jersey dairy cows and pigs graze in the foothills of the Barossa ranges, where he has proudly revived the traditional way of raising pigs as part of a mixed farming enterprise. The way it used to be when a farmer's labour and skill included growing food and producing meat and fibre on a single property. It is a practice and custom that is gradually being lost over time.
Michael's Jersey milk raises his free-range Berkshire and Tamworth pigs. All are heritage or traditional breeds whose pork stands apart from the other species. They are black or orange in colour, or mixed orange and black, spotted by crossing the two, known affectionally as plum puddings.
Barossa Heritage Pork is marbled with soft and creamy fat, which renders quickly during cooking. The meat suits slow and high-temperature cooking and stays moist, tender and flavoursome. The key is the milk diet, complemented by the breed's character and a free-range environment. Beautiful Jersey cows graze upon open paddocks on the property and provide the daily milk for the Berkshire herd that feeds on the pastures. Berkshire pigs are black with pink skin underneath and are well suited to freely roaming in the paddocks. Old-time breeds combine at Barossa Heritage Pork…
Berkshire is considered the premium pork for flavour and moisture, a heritage breed, the livestock equivalent of heirloom tomatoes. The meat is compared with Wagyu beef, with extra marbling throughout, which stops the meat from drying out, thus retaining more of the meats juiciness. Berkshire pork has a superior taste, richer colour, sweeter flavour and delicate texture compared with other pig breeds.
Apart from the whole cream Jersey milk, Michael feeds local grain that he mills, and the pigs graze the improved pasture.
No feed additives are tainting the meat, and no growth stimulants or hormones.
Barossa Heritage Pork is available by order, or every Saturday morning from the Barossa Farmers Market, Angaston. Premium cuts are utilised for ham and cured and smoked meats. They are delicate and produced using traditional methods. There are over 20 cuts and products available each week.
The Dairyman
NOTE – ABOVE 3 PHOTOS OF MICHAEL © DUY DASH
Michael also grows Oyster Mushrooms on the farm. They are a beautiful edible fungus with a nutty, subtle flavour that goes well in soups, stews, and sauces. They have a unique scent, often sweet, like anise or liquorice.
White and King's oysters are available for the hospitality trade and direct sale at the Barossa and Adelaide Showgrounds farmers markets.
In addition, Artisan farm butter and cream are produced from the grass-fed Jersey herd. Produced directly on the farm
Butter is churned in small batches, using traditional techniques and a staged process to capture the full flavour of cream.
Discover a forgotten difference – golden in colour, lightly salted, rich, and pure in flavour. It is simple, delicious, and next to Kerrygold Irish butter, some of the best butter I have tasted.
The butter is handmade in small quantities from the cream produced on the farm. It is churned in small batches using traditional processes, with a small amount of sea salt added for extra flavour. The taste is sweet cream with a strikingly golden colour and velvet texture.
The secret is the Jersey cows, the fresh pasture they graze and the artisan process that captures the cream's full flavour.
It is rich and creamy with low water content. It is brilliantly served fresh with bread for use in the finest baked products and for cooking.
It is also available every Saturday from the Barossa Farmers Market, selected restaurants offering an outstanding dining experience and delicatessens specialising in the best produce.
As s this wasn't all enough, you can also stay on the farm - an experience I highly recommend. I have stayed on numerous occasions, and it's always a fun and informative experience to help Michael feed the little piggies and watch him milk the cows every evening. I have no iota how he does in the middle of winter in seriously chilly temperatures. Still, it is totally PRAISEWORTHY to watch him diligently working away in freezing temps.
ON TOP OF ALL THIS, HE’S ONE OF THE NICEST AND MOST ACCOMMODATING AUSSIE FELLAS YOU’LL EVER HAVE THE PLEASURE TO MEET!
FARM ACCOMMODATION