Episode: 4
Title: Bannister Downs Production
Broadcast: July 2nd 2017
Presenter: Scott Taylor

Today we visit the south west corner of Australia to visit a dairy farm that is producing the freshest, best tasting milk in the country. Today we learn about the process taken to get the milk out of these happy cows and and onto the shelves.

• 100 years making milk at Bannister Downs, and the process has certainly changed a little in a few years.
• The farmers get up early in the morning to start milking the cows and start processing the milk. The milk is piped directly from the dairy across to the process system.
• First thing they do is separate the milk. It’s spun very fast, which cleans the milk if there’s any impurities and then it’s homogenized, which is a mechanical process to make sure the cream is spread easily through the milk and doesn’t sit on the top.
• Bannister Downs has chosen to use a batch pasteurizing system. The batch pasteurizer will lift it up to 65 degrees and hold it there for 10-minutes, which is a rather inefficient way of pasteurising milk however the benefit is that it’s done at a lower temperature.
• If the milk goes above 60 degrees you loose all of that texture and fullness and creaminess and it can get a little bit flat and one dimensional.
• Another innovation is this packaging. It’s made from sustainably resourced limestone. These packs break down in around 2 years, unlike the dreaded plastic bottle. Bannister Downs are the only dairy with this system in the southern hemisphere.
• Bannister Downs control everything from the growing of the grass right through to the delivery of their products, which just goes to show that fresh and local really is best.

Bannister Downs Dairy
P: (08) 9776 4555
W: www.bannisterdowns.com.au