Small cattle breeders visited the first cheese factory in Goričko
 
Ratkovci, 17 June 2010

Centre for Health and Development (CHD) from Murska Sobota which is carrying out Animation and marketing strategy for new products as the external contractor within the project "Sustainable Use of Natura 2000 habitats along the Slovenian-Hungarian border" organised a visit and presentation of cheese factory in Ratkovci together with Nature Park Goričko Public Institute.

As the first speaker Sandra Zver from CHD presented us the advantages of processing goat and sheep milk. Following by Valentina Šeruga Lazarovski as a cheese factory manager in Ratkovci, Tatjana Buzeti as a CHD Director and Stanka Dešnik as a Landscape in harmony project leader who all took opportunity and talked about the work in cheese factory, how they got idea of establishing the cheese factory and then buying equipment within the project in the Operational Programme Slovenia-Hungary 2007-2013. After tasting the cheese and dairy products, members of Association of small cattle breeders from Pomurje area went to Fokovci to visit pastures and abandoned land managed by Valentina Šeruga Lazarovski for breeding goats and sheep.

By listening and presentation by Valentina Šeruga Lazarovski some farmers and breeders of small cattle expressed their wish to breed sheep and goats to sell organically produced milk to the cheese factory in Ratkovci. Unfortunately, at the moment there is still just one farmer in Nature Park Goričko breeding sheep and goats for producing milk and selling it. Therefore we truly hope we changed a bit a manner of thinking of people visited the cheese factory.

At the end what really counts are people living in Goričko sustainable preserving grasslands with its animals and plants.

For further information please write to stanka.desnik@siol.net or gregor.domanjko@goricko.info or call the telephone number (02) 551 88 68.

Text and photos: Gregor Domanjko