The seasonality, is not really due to the feed, but more to do with the weather. The best milk comes in spring and autumn, when the cows are least stressed. In the summer they tend to underproduce, and in winter they overproduce which lessens the quality. That is why the milk price given to the farmers (before deregualtion) used to vary considerably between winter and summer. Lower price in winter (greater supply) and higher price in summer (lower supply). Most dairy cattle in WA, are fed dry hay, silage, and green grass all year round, that is in the irrigation areas in the southwest though. So they are pretty much eating the same feed all year. Milk quantity also varies by the amount of walking a cow does each day. Cows that are on relatively flat ground will produce more milk than thier cousins in the hilly regions. Some friends of mine have two farms, one on the flats and the other in the hills, only about 20ks apart. With a heard of 300 cattle, the 150 cows on the flat produce around 6000L per day, and the 150 cows in the hills produce around 5700L per day. May not seem like much, but in a week thats a lot of milk. I have found that most home style espresso machines lack the pressure and heat of the commercial machines, thats why they dont produce the same quality textured milk. I have had this happen to me on a home machine, I think the time to texture has something to do with it. I was told by a sales rep at david jones that a saeco machine produces around 15psi of steam pressure.....i find that hard to believe. The machine i use at work is a La San Marco 95/22 and it produces around 12-13psi. How can a home machine produce more pressure than an industrial machine designed to make 6 coffees' at a time plus run two steam wands?? Any thoughts? Mimmo
