The Gentle Behemoths
Water buffalo are fascinating creatures. Their heads, like the beasts themselves, are enormous. Their ears, which are to the side instead of on top of their heads, are sometimes erect and at other times charmingly flopped. Their eyes, dark and soft, welcome all human visitors.
Home for these behemoths is the Ontario Water Buffalo Company, a 450-acre farm near Stirling, roughly 200 kilometres northeast of Toronto. Owners Martin Littkemann and Lori Smith have built up the first milking water buffalo herd in eastern Ontario — and only the second in Canada.
Bubalus bubalis, to use the scientific term, makes a great alternative to traditional dairy farming, Littkemann and Smith say. People unable to tolerate the lactose in cow’s milk normally have no reaction to water buffalo milk, since enzymes break down the lactose to make it more digestible. The milk, porcelain white in colour, is silky and smooth, with a sweet almond aftertaste. High in protein, iron, calcium and vitamin A, it has a much higher fat content than cow’s milk. Chefs find it great to cook with because it absorbs flavours beautifully and the fat brings out the best in other ingredients.
Every week, the Ontario Water Buffalo Company ships about 5,000 kilograms of milk to Quality Cheese in Vaughan, Ont. There, the pure white liquid is turned into roughly a ton of cheese, including ricotta, caciocavallo and most of all, mozarella. In Ottawa, the mozarella is sold at The Piggy Market, Nicastro Fine Foods and The House of Cheese in the ByWard Market, to name a few. Other cheesemakers in Ontario use the buffalo dairy to make Gouda, Cheddar and Asiago.
“Water buffalo are a primary source of dairy in many countries,” Littkemann says. A full 15 per cent of the world’s milk supply comes from buffalo.
The meat appeals to North American palates too. Similar to beef, water buffalo meat is lower in fat while having a great deal of protein. With its rich flavour and low calorie count, Littkemann describes it is a healthy alternative to beef.
While the Ontario Water Buffalo Company does not make health claims about their products, water buffalo meat, according to some studies, may be a good choice for people who wish to reduce their serum cholesterol levels. Not only is it packed with iron, vitamins and minerals, but Littkemann indicates it is one of the few meats with naturally occurring Omega-3 fatty acids. But real care must be taken in preparing it, he adds: “You have to know how to cook it and you mustn’t overcook it. Slow and low and it will fall apart tender, and it’s flavourful as anything.”
All products — meats, cheeses, butter, and butter tarts — are available at the farm’s aptly named Buff Stuff Store. Recently, a still-experimental offering was added — buffalo gelato, which comes in 18 flavours, including vanilla, chocolate and café mocha, as well as those that incorporate seasonal produce, such as strawberry rhubarb, black currant and wild grape.
Caring for a herd of water buffalo is much like caring for a herd of cattle. Milking takes place twice a day in an automated facility on the farm. As herbivores, their diet consists of half grass and half feed plus any hay or grass they naturally forage. On this farm, all feed is free of hormones. “We go through about three million pounds of feed to keep these buffalo fed a year,” Littkemann says. “They drink water and chew up the feed and turn it into however many million pounds of poop.”
Calves are born all year round, not just in the spring. An average year will see about 100 born, each weighing between 75 and 100 pounds (34 kilograms to 45 kilograms). “Females can produce at least 10 calves in a lifetime, but if you want good [milk] production, she is probably finished after her maybe sixth or seventh calf,” Smith says.
Both females and males are born with horns. “We have the females dehorned at between one and two weeks of age,” Smith says. “We only dehorn the males if we are going to keep them for breeding — and the rest are raised for meat.”
The estimated 170 million water buffalo in the world come in two basic types — the swamp water buffalo, used for meat and transport, and the river water buffalo, used primarily for milking.
Huge creatures, the males average about 3,600 pounds (1,633 kilograms) in weight; females, by comparison, come in at a mere 2,600 pounds (1,179 kilograms.) These aren’t far off hippopotamus proportions, but unlike the often aggressive hippos, water buffalo are friendly and calm, the gentle giants of the farming world.
As their name suggests, water buffalo love water every bit as much as hippos do. They are often found wading, swimming and cooling off in the heat of a summer day. On their farm, Littkemann and Smith have two ponds for them — but there are several more that the buffalo have made on their own. “The water buffalo dug them,” Smith says. “If there’s a trickle of a brook, they will dig a big hole and dam it so it will fill. They are very, very intelligent.”
Domesticated 5,000 years ago, water buffalo are quiet with a friendly disposition and a lifespan averaging about 25 years, although Smith notes the oldest on their farm are about 13 years old. “Betty and Bonny were rescues and are best friends and always hang out together and have big beautiful horns,” she says.
While their size makes them intimidating, Littkemann likens them to friendly and curious pups. “Every day they will try something different,” he says. Smith is similarly charmed: “They are incredible creatures and I’ve learned so much and I am still learning. They love attention and they love to be scratched; they love to herd together and lay over top of each other in a pile when the weather is cooler. It is something to see,” Smith says.
Littkemann and Martin have eight employees — five full-time and three part-time — to help with farm operations and in the store. Staff retention doesn’t seem to be a problem, Littkemann says. “The staff have been with us for years because once you start, they just love working with the buffalo.”
Visitors are welcome at the farm, with self-guided tours free by appointment. “People come up all the time and we give tours as time permits — but they can go up into the barns and you can see the animals, walk around the farm,” Littkemann says. “We are not a zoo; we are a fully operational farm.
Littkemann says they’re enjoying their lives with their 450 water buffalo charges. “Quite honestly, 11 years ago I didn’t know you could milk water buffalo. Neither one of us really knew until we started looking into it. We thought it would be a great hobby, but it got out of control,” he laughs.
There are lots of satisfactions, though strictly financial ones don’t top the list. “If I wanted to make money, this would be the last thing I would want to do,” he says. “It’s for the love and it’s for the challenge and for producing an amazing food — and I’m really happy to do that.”
Ontario Water Buffalo Company
3346 Stirling Marmora Road, Stirling, Ont.
ontariowaterbuffalo.ca, 613.395.1342
Annual Water Buffalo
Food Festival On Saturday, September 15th, the Stirling & District Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Stirling will host the annual Water Buffalo Food Festival, shutting down the main street in Stirling, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m for this family friendlyevent.
Showcasing the creative talents of regional chefs and locally owned businesses, participants can sample dishes, such as buffalo ricotta cannoli, shaved buffalo roast with smoked cheddar, and of course, Ontario Water Buffalo Company's gelato.
