Environment

Our buffaloes graze on grasslands established nearly a thousand years ago by the Saxons, through selective forest clearance that sought to create feeding opportunities for their livestock. Today we maintain this woodland habitat in the tradition of the Transylvanian agricultural landscape, thus providing corridors for wildlife in the natural borders between our long established pastures.

The Transylvania Lactate farm in Meşendorf is located at an altitude between 500 and 675 meters, to the south of the eponymous river valley, and enjoys an environment with a high level of biodiversity.

The farm is located in a forest area with native species of oak and hornbeam. In the mornings and evenings, rabbits, deer, fox and feral goats can be seen emerged from their dens. In mid-May you can hear birds such as the cuckoo, the nightingale, Eurasian golden oriole and a local species of woodpecker. At the same time, hawks and other birds of prey are often seen flying over the hills.

The meadows are classified as semi-dry grasslands and are also important orchid sites (at least two species Orchis ustulata and Orchis Militaris are included on Romania Red Book of endangered flora). The local meadows are gently sloping (on average, 12⁰) almost entirely oriented northwest, formed on layers of clay and sandy clay and criss-crossed by the Zavoiu and Ruaru rivers. These meadowlands had been traditionally used to produce fodder with high nutrition value, such as clover, alfalfa, corn and oats.

In order to assist with the fertilisation of the meadows we use organic waste generated by the farm thus respecting the norms of good local agricultural practice.

In Transylvania, the local buffalo love to wander, at a slow pace, the hills rich in grass and alfalfa and to wallow in the mud along the edge of rivers and lakes.