SA Buffalo Company

Not content in watching his childhood dairy remain dormant, Corey and wife Mollie took a leap of faith, landing them in an obscure yet niche market, growing buffaloes at Mypolonga.

A third-generation dairy farmer, Corey grew up knowing all too well the demands of working a dairy. And after a few years trying his hand at carpentry in Adelaide, he returned home to make a living from the farm, as his parents, and their parents before them did.

With his wife Mollie, an Occupational Therapist, they’ve been tending to their buffalo herd full-time since 2016, which has grown into 300 head of Italian Riverine buffalo. Well suited to the environment, the buffalo flourish among the wet floodplains of Mypolonga. Milked 365 days a year, they are well known for their temperamental nature, much more challenging than cows.

It’s nothing Corey, and his chief milker and mother Vicki, can’t handle. There’s only a handful of buffalo farms across Australia, with the Jones’ Mypo farm one of the biggest.

Why you’ll love their produce…

Full of protein and natural fat, buffalo milk is the ideal component for making cheese.

Cheesemakers boast higher yields from buffalo milk, with lower lactose levels, making it easier to digest. The milk doesn’t have a strong flavour but is creamier, described as how cow’s milk used to taste.

When sold for meat, buffalo tastes like beef, but leaner, and with more protein. In what is still regarded as a niche market, one-third of the Jones’ buffalo milk is sold to cheesemakers in South Australia, while the other portions are distributed throughout Melbourne and Sydney.

Made into delicious cheese at Woodside Cheese Wrights (Kris Lloyd Artisan) and La Vera cheese, you can choose from soft and hard cheeses from the cellar door, specialty shops or farmers’ markets. Available online or from selected bulk food shops, in retail and industrial-sized packs.

Fast facts about SA Buffalo Company