YAKS.... not Gnu!  Are they for you?

These guys are great and continue to "represent" for yaks everywhere! You can meet them at fiber shows all over the country and I encourage you to check out their website. Bijou Basin Ranch.

We aren't sure how to move forward with yak cheese but it is delicious! After making this batch with the help of our friend Shannon Holder, the whole family was sold on the how great yak cheese is. Getting enough milk to provide anymore than personal consumption is going to be a challenge. 

Keep an eye out for these folks as the project develops. Ragya Yak Cheese

Studies by others have shown that certain types of dairy-derived fatty acids, particularly conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), may help fight heart disease, cancer and even diabetes. However, little was know about the fatty acid composition of yak cheese.

In the new study, Brian W. McBride and colleagues compared the fatty acid composition of yak cheese from Nepal with that of cheddar cheese obtained from Canada. They found that levels of CLAs were four times higher in the yak cheese than the dairy cow cheese. Levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are healthy for the heart, were also significantly higher in the yak cheese, the researchers say.

American Chemical Society (2008, March 18). Heart-healthy Yak Cheese. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 2, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317093858.htm

We have been spending a good deal of wintertime thinking about our ranch and how to develop complementary operations to our central yak business. Books by Joel Salatin and the have been in heavy rotation. We have developed a few ideas that we think can be implemented on our ranch but wanted to get out and see some actual farms that are operating successfully in our climate. For our first visit we crashed the farm of Jen and John Socolofsky. They were feeding when we arrived and had just begun seeding in their hoop houses. With the warm winter we've had they were able get some things going early this year. They raise berkshire hogs, icelandic sheep, rabbits, and fresh produce. Their products can be purchased at, http://www.staffoflife.biz/?cmd=home2, and their website is http://www.socolofskyfarms.com/index.html. They are great folks. Check them out!