Everyone knows “Baisi’s yoghurt“. Through the word of mouth typical of markets — the most reliable of marketing tools — Baisi’s yoghurt has become one of the most sought-after in the Plain of Lucca.
Having inherited the Lammari stable from his grandfather, Stefano has progressively given up raising animals for meat to concentrate on milk and its derivatives.
A few weeks ago Stefano, just over forty, accepted a new challenge, moving his stable from the centre of Lammari to a more suitable area. A new stable in the Lucchesia countryside, north of the little lakes of Lammari, where he will continue to produce his cheeses too — primosale, caciotta and ricotta — and the legendary yoghurt, much appreciated and known precisely in the Campagna Amica markets, at the Foro Boario market and others in the Lucchesia.
With his cows Stefano has forged a pact of solidarity and mutual respect, and the family “working” atmosphere where the animals are treated with respect. The new stable is an open stable in which the animals can be sheltered but in contact with the surrounding environment, just as Stefano had always wanted and had only been able to achieve in part in the old family structure. In the stable the animals are not tethered but can move freely and, in the paddock, can graze freely. Besides the new shelter — open and far from dwellings to allow the cows to move with greater freedom — the cows can graze freely in the adjacent spaces.
The feed is mainly hay produced directly by the farm, supplemented with a specific feed.
The care and the atmosphere of solidarity and well-being “in the workplace” created by Stefano are evident: in the morning the cows say good morning to Stefano and vie for his caresses. Then everyone to work. About twenty, out of the forty of the full “staff”, are in production; the others, respecting their life cycle, at rest because they are still young or calving.
Among them is also Reddy, the most “social” bovine of the stable of Stefano Baisi’s farm, to whom public relations are entrusted. Affectionate, sociable and self-centred, Reddy is just one of the 40 cattle that in October entered the new space immersed in greenery.
“My work is not only sacrifices… but also great satisfactions…” writes Stefano on his FB profile, and it improves his quality of life precisely because of the relationship that is created. In Stefano’s future, an educational farm to bring children closer to respect and love for animals, for their territory and for healthy, local food.
The quantity of production is, of course, smaller, but the quality is unrivalled, and Stefano’s enterprise is growing. The milk produced — on average 350 litres a day — is distributed raw or processed in a local dairy and turned into yoghurt, various cheeses (some aged with truffle and spices) and ricotta.
Since 2006, Baisi’s milk can also be tapped at the “Milk Dispenser of Lammari”, near the primary schools, and at the one at the Foro Boario of Lucca. In the little booth the milk is sold raw, fresh of the day and exclusively from the Baisi farm, to guarantee the traceability of the origin and food safety.
The cheeses and the legendary Yoghurt, on the other hand, are found at the farmers’ markets organised by the Municipalities (Capannori, at the covered market, on Saturday mornings, and Lucca, at the Foro Boario, on Wednesday and Saturday mornings) and at Coldiretti’s “Campagna Amica” markets.
Azienda agricola Baisi Stefano
Via Chiassitana 3 – Lammari – Capannori
tel. 366 8098510 mob. 349 6579510
rappaandrea@yahoo.it
