The Malga: history, environment, territory, management

Alpine grazing was mentioned for the first time in written form in a deed assigning lands to be destined for the pasture in the town of Marcesina of the Enego Municipality, dated 983. Therefore, the prairies have been used continuously by the livestock farmers for more than 10 centuries as grazing resources for the flocks and herds.
As early as 1300, the natural prairies were not enough to feed the increasingly higher number of animals raised and this caused an intense deforestation in order to obtain new surfaces to be used as pasture. This caused serious hydrogeological instability in the steeply sloped areas, which prompted the authorities at the time (Council of the Ten of the Venetian Republic) to issue regulations intended to safeguard the forest.
In 1404, the Plateau implemented the Pact of dedication to the Venetian Republic which, among other privileges granted by the Serenissima, also included the grazing rights, namely the right reserved for the Plateau livestock farmers to freely graze their flocks free of charge on the land of the Venetian Plain from fall well into spring.
After the fall of the Republic of Venice in the early 1800s, significant political changes took place and with them, the elimination of the grazing rights. The direct consequence of this was that a new way of raising livestock began to spread:from transhumant, it became primarily non-migratory, with a simultaneous decrease in sheep and increase in raising dairy cows which, during the summer period, were and still are transferred to the high-altitude pastures in order to use their grazing resources.
In the same period, the cheese called “Asiago”, that once was produced with sheep milk (pecorino), became the cow milk product that we know today. Actually, the creation of the Asiago d’Allevo cheese, now worldwide renowned, is an ancient product, passed down from generation to generation all the way to the present day. It is still made following traditional and unique methods that give it a taste, a color, and a flavour that keeps the essence of the grass and the flowers of the alpine pastures.
During the years from 1915-1918, the First World War directly involved the Plateau for the 41 months of the conflict and it disrupted its social and economic fabric. Beside the immense human tragedy and the destruction of towns and districts, vast pasture areas, prairies, and wooded areas became true battlefields and were completely devastated. Almost all of the malgas and barns, built of wood, were destroyed.
Many years of work were required to reclaim and recover the pastures and rebuild the malgas, with the use of stone and more practical metal sheet instead of wood.
From the ’70s to the present, thanks to a growing sensitivity to the need to keep this form of mountain farming alive, multiple modernization operations have been completed on the structures for the purpose of raising the standards, especially from the point of view of hygiene and health: separation and upgrading of the processing and manufacturing environments, the installation of rainwater collection tanks and relative treatment plants, the creation of electrical and photovoltaic systems, toilets, milking, washing, and milk storage rooms. These activities still continue today, with the further ambitious goal of making the malgas suitable to accommodate tourists, according to the environmental and structural setting of each malga.

The Plateau territory is well delimited to the north and east by Valsugana, to the west by Val d’Astico, and to the south by the Alto Vicentino plains, toward which it slopes down with a long series of hills.

From a geological point of view, the rocks that make up the Plateau are generally of sedimentary origin, being formed on the seabed by the accumulation of debris and organic sediment during the Triassic geological period and, to a lesser extent, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

The rocky formations that make up the subsoil are primarily the Dolomia Principale (Main Dolomite), about 500-600 meters thick, and the overlying Grey Limestone, Red Ammonite , and Biancone.

Although the Dolomia Principale (Main Dolomite) is a previous formation beneath the other aforementioned stones, it constitutes the highest peaks as a proof of the “knee-bend” raising of the Plateau.

Therefore, since the soil is chalky, there are abundant forms of erosion, particularly on the outcropping layers of Red Ammonite (the well-known rocky towns of Monte Fior and Monte Corno) or of Grey Limestone (labyrinth of the Castelloni di San Marco or Monte Fiara). There are also many cracks which lead to a vast karst complex both on the surface (sinkholes, dry valleys, karst fields) and underground (caves, chasms, cavities, and swallow holes).

The extensive karst significantly conditions alpine grazing, making it necessary, as happened in the old days, to provide artificial ponds to water the animals in order to overcome the lack of surface waters. The numerous alpine ponds were created by digging and waterproofing, generally with clay-loamy materials, small surface basins with limited surface and depth of about 1-1.5 meters, then filled with rainwater channelled there from the surrounding slopes through small streams. These humid environments often host particular flora and fauna because of the incredible capacity to adapt to the significant temperature changes and the possibility of drying up.

The climate is cool temperate-cold temperate and characterized by a high quantity of rain (about 1500 mm yearly) due to the particular geographic situation: the Plateau is the first mountain close to the Vicenza plains and it causes substantial orographic precipitation. The vegetative landscape is the result, as in all the Alps, of complex geomorphological, climatic, and biological activities in which humans, with their activities, play a rather important role.

In the territory in question, we go from the phytoclimatic strip of the Fagetum, typical of the lower altitude pastures, to the Picetum strip, where most of the alpine pastures are located, all the way to the Alpinetum, typical of the natural, high-altitude prairies.

Therefore, in the Plateau, various natural environments can be found, going from the southern side, located near the plains, to the wooded areas that lead to the central basin, a spectacular spread of prairies, all the way to the northern hills which rise up to an altitude of more than 2,000 m. From the lowest level all the way up to the highest, there is one lush green forest with pastures in between and soft rolling hills, never too steep, which are perfect for alpine grazing. Actually, the pasture, with the malgas and the relative ponds, is the element that more characterizes the landscape.

The alternation of pastures, prairies, and forests enhances the variety of the environments, with a corresponding wealth of vegetation and animal species. As for the fauna, hares, foxes, roe deer and red deer are the mammals that can be found and their bellow and mating calls can be heard on fall evenings and nights. The chamois favours the higher altitudes, often climbing as far as the extremely steep and relatively unfrequented northern slopes of the Plateau. The marmots can often be found in colonies near the highest pastures which represent their ideal habitat.

In recent years, the large carnivores have once again become more widespread, with a healthy population of wolves and with bear occupancy.

On the other hand, the strong presence of boars, which root the grassy sub-strata looking for food, causes heavy damage to the pastures where the animals are more frequently present.

Among the birds who live on the Plateau, we can find the golden eagle, the kestrel, the ptarmigan, the alpine swift, the lark, the water pipit, the tree pipit, the swallow, the white wagtail, the red-backed shrike, the buzzard, the woodpecker, and the rock partridge. When spring comes, you can easily hear the mating call of the black grouse on the highest malgas, whereas the conifer and deciduous forests, rich with undergrowth and vast clearings, provide the ideal habitat for the wood grouse and the hazel grouse.

In the fall, the pastures located at the peak of the grassy hills constitute privileged passes for migratory birds including siskins, finches, thrushes, and fieldfares.

The term ‘pasture’ means a surface covered with grassy vegetation which is used directly by livestock. The pastures are an ancient resource which is now re-acquiring importance for a series of reasons: the protection of the territory, the preservation of biodiversity, the maintenance of the variability of the landscape and the improvement of the quality of the zootechnical production.

Primary origin pastures and secondary origin pastures are distinguished from one another: the latter were created through deforestation, whereas the former are found at high altitude, beyond the “forest edge” where environmental conditions do not allow the growth of trees. The pasture is, therefore, influenced by the environmental conditions, but also by human activity and the management it is subject to. It is, therefore, the result of an interaction between environmental and anthropogenic factors.

The environmental factors (characteristics of the climate and the soil) determine the development of vegetation communities with floristic combinations that are typical and in balance with the environment, which phytosociology defines as ‘associations’. There are more or less rich associations as far as the number of species is concerned: from 8-10 species of nitrophilous vegetation near the cowsheds to 60-70 of some particular pastures.

The species are grouped into families and the most important for the pastures are the Graminaceae (or Poaceae), the Leguminosae (or Fabaceae), the Umbrelliferae (or Apiaceae), the Compositae (or Asteraceae), the Cyperaceae, and the Rosaceae.

As for the pastures in the Plateau territory, we have the Bromus grasslands on the lower altitude sides exposed to the south and on chalky terrain. This is a group that includes numerous associations of environments, some more (xerobromus) or less (mesobromus) dry, all characterized in any case by the presence of the Bromus erectus.

The malgas in the central area of the Plateau have very productive pastures, typically the Lolium-Cynosurus and the Festucoid-Cynosurus, which develop in well fertilized areas with copious rainfall where we find, as Graminaceae are concerned, the perennial Lolium, the Festucoid rubra, the Cynosurus cristatus, the Agrostis tenuis and the Alpine Poa. The legumes include the Trifolium repens (white clover) and the Trifolium pratense (red clover). The Taraxacum officinale is also rather abundant. At higher altitudes, we have the Nardeti, characterized by the abundant presence of Nardus stricta, a graminacea that forms vast carpets but that is not eaten by the livestock. These are pastures characterized by the presence of very few species, such as the Campanula barbata, the Arnica montana, the Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry), and sometimes the rhododendron.

On the steep, chalky slopes, we find the Sesleriosempervireti (blue moor grass and Carex sempervirens pastures) where the Gentiana acaulis, the Dryas octopetala, and in some cases even the Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) stand out.

The day on the malga begins at dawn, with the malga operator’s dog running to round up the cows that must be milked after spending the night grazing and resting. After rounding up the livestock, the malga operators lead the cows to the cowshed where milking begins, an operation that keeps several people occupied for one or two hours, depending on how many heads of cattle there are. Once milking is finished, the milk is stored in a refrigerated tank to wait for the tanker from the dairy where the milk is taken or it is placed in a curd bowl for the process that will transform it into cheese.

After cleaning the milking system and the barn, it is finally time for the staff to have a break for a breakfast based on milk, yoghurt (in some cases produced locally), toasted polenta, cheese, or salami. The shepherds must then take care of feeding the pigs in the pigsty. Having the pigs on a malga where cheese-making occurs is fundamental. Actually, the pigs are fed with bran, middlings, barley flour, or corn and with the milk whey residue.

After milking, the cows are directed to the pasture. For the rest of the morning, the malga operators are busy with environmental management and with maintaining the structures: mowing the weed varieties (before they bloom), cutting the trees and shrubbery on the pasture, and upkeeping the enclosures and alpine ponds.

In the meantime, the cheese maker begins processing the milk for the production of cheese and butter, which keeps him busy until lunchtime. After a break and a coffee, operations resume. The cheese maker cures the cheese in the warehouse and in the salting tub, in addition to preparing the firewood for the kitchen. The malga operators go out to continue working on the pasture and, in the late afternoon, with the help of the dogs, they lead the cows to the cowshed for the second milking session of the day, then continue with the other activities until evening. Then comes dinner, some chitchat and off to bed, because the alarm clock will be going off again before five o’clock in the morning.

Over the years, even malga life, although highly demanding and with the same rhythms as in the olden days, has improved in many situations. The municipal governments, in collaboration with the Unione Montana, are constantly busy working towards hygiene-health upgrades of the malga building structures, both to make life in these environments decent and to guarantee a safe and authentic malga product for tourists, who are increasingly more interested in these rural facilities and in the characteristic and unique cheeses of each individual malga.

The typical products that characterize alpine farming activities in our mountains are the Asiago d’Allevo cheese which, depending on the aging, is called Mezzano (4-8 months), Vecchio (8-12 months), Stravecchio (more than 12 months up to 24-36 months), and the fresh cheeses which are generally preferred by families with small children.

The production technique of the Allevo is as follows: the milk from the afternoon milking session is placed in a special round basin located in a ventilated and cool place, usually in a room facing the north, where it stays overnight. The milk is then skimmed with the skimmer and, along with the milk from the morning milking session, it is placed in a cauldron and heated to a temperature which varies depending on the season and the quality, generally around 36-37 degrees Celsius. The milk is mixed continuously with the “batarela” or “rodela” (a sort of stirring plunger) and, once the temperature is reached, the curd is added. Casein coagulation occurs in about 20-30 minutes and the curd obtained this way is broken with a curd cutter or cheese harp, reducing the coagulation to lumps the size of a grain of wheat. Cooking takes place at a final temperature of 46-47°C. The curd, after resting in the whey and being deposited on the bottom of the cauldron, is extracted using a linen cloth and placed in spruce wood molds. The wheels of cheese are left on the “scagno” (bench) to bleed whey for the entire day and then they are taken to the salting tub where they stay for one week, sprinkled with coarse salt and turned over twice a day. Salting is carried out dry or by placing the wheels in brine. It is then that the cheese bleeds the whey, absorbs the salt, and forms the crust. After this treatment, it is taken to the warehouse. Here, in the dark and at a constant temperature, the wheels are placed on spruce axes and turned upside-down every day. After one month, the first cleaning and scraping is carried out and a bit later the oiling follows. The Allevo cheese will be ready in six months, but it will achieve maximum flavour and aroma after a year or more.

In some malgas, fresh and pressed cheeses are also produced. Whole milk is used, with lower curd cooking temperatures. For fresh cheeses, the curd obtained is broken up, reducing the coagulation to lumps the size of corn kernels or hazelnuts, depending on the type of cheese to be obtained. In the case of pressed cheese, the wheels just out of the cauldron are placed under a press to bleed the whey. It is a sweet cheese that still tastes of milk and it takes 20-40 days to age.

For complete exploitation of the whey, in some malgas ricottais produced, a dairy product obtained from flocculation of the proteins that remain in the whey after the milk has been processed. Ricotta is a fresh product that should be consumed quickly, particularly tasty when smoked with dwarf pine and used to season excellent pasta or gnocchi dishes.

The delicious malga butter, on the other hand, is obtained from heavy cream, collected by skimmer from the milk that has been placed in special containers to rest. After being placed in the churn, the cream is shaken vigorously until the fatty material separates from the buttermilk. The butter is then washed with cool water in order to remove the buttermilk as much as possible. Then it is compressed and placed in 0.5 or 1 kg rectangular molds. Its typical yellow color comes from the presence of beta-carotenes that are in the flowers and in the grass.

The malgas are managed in accordance with the Technical Economic Specification for the management of mountain pastures, as envisaged by Regional Forestry Law No. 52 of 13 September 1978. This specification determines the criteria for the use of the pasture by the malga operator. Every six-ten years, the municipal governments, delegated to manage the community heritage, promote tenders for concession in temporary use of the malgas, normally from early June to late September.

Until recently, during the tender phase, each interested livestock farmer had to send their offer in a sealed envelope and after paying a security deposit, expressed in litres of milk per LSU (Livestock Unit) placed on the malga. The number of LSU for each malga is set by the “Forestry Redevelopment Plan” and is normally called “load”.

The Mountain Authority Unione Montana Spettabile Reggenza dei Sette Comuni has modified Art. 2 of the Technical Economic Specification, specifying that “The annual minimum fee is established by the administrator body of the community asset, taking into consideration the characteristics of the pasture and the ponds, the load, the pasturing period, the condition of the buildings and products, the activities which are feasible in the malga, the presence of services, the ease of access to the malga itself, the benefit that the alpine grazing operation can imply in terms of environmental preservation and protection.”

The livestock load to be attributed to each malga is certainly the most important criterion for proper management of the alpine pasture and a specifically determined load corresponds to each malga. Beside the characteristics of the pasture and the area itself, the livestock load derives also from the experience of many years of pasturing. Actually, upkeep of the pastures rests on the balance between the quantity of grass produced and the intensity of grazing, that is the quantity of grass used directly by the animal.

The action of the malga operators contributes in a determining way to this balance, through controlled grazing with which the animals are directed to graze on all of the malga surfaces uniformly, thereby preventing the reforestation of those farthest away, otherwise neglected by the animals. The presence of a malga operator, who constantly takes care of handling the animals, as well as clearing the pasture of weed varieties, is an important condition for implementing this method of grazing.

Alternatively, the practice of free grazing, less demanding from an economic point of view, does not require the constant presence of the malga operator, but is also less effective in terms of the uniform use of the pasture. Actually, in this case, no restrictions are placed on the animals – often also fed with non-pasture food – in terms of selecting the surfaces to graze on, leading to the under-grazing of the areas far from the malga and not very popular which thereby tend to reforest, decreasing the useful grazing surface.

In addition to a correct load and the practice of controlled grazing, experience teaches that, in order to have a well maintained pasture, an adequate period of use based on the seasonal trend is needed, as well as implementation by the malga operator of very simple but indispensable practices such as cutting the weed varieties before blooming ,containing offorest advancement, using the pasture depending on the maturation level of the forage crops in the various exposures, and distributing correctly the droppings at the end of alpine pasturage.

The load may undergo temporary annual variations due to various factors including, for example, the reduction of the pasture surface due to the presence of lumber stacks deriving from forest use of nearby lots, as well as damage to the grassy sub-strata caused by the movement of timber or the presence of boars. Actually, the presence of some wild animal species – boars and large predators such as wolves and bears – has complicated the management of the malgas in recent years.

Increasingly larger numbers of boars pour into the malga territories, devastating the terrain in search of food, with the consequent need to restore the damaged surfaces to recover its zootechnical function, to control its surface erosion, and to protect the landscape.

Large predators also represent an important factor of interference in carrying out traditional alpine farming activities on the malgas. Whereas bears make sporadic appearances, the number of wolves seems to have been growing over the years, with predation that leads to various consequences:

• direct and indirect economic damage such as the economic loss due to the death of animals, reduced zootechnical production due to the conditions of stress suffered, the more aggressive behavior of alpine raised cattle toward visitors (especially if they have dogs), and the reduced availability of breeders to lead other animals onto the malga due to the risk of predation;
• a less evident but fundamental aspect is the change in the way of grazing by the animals which, in fact, seem to have reacted by moving to the vicinity of the cowsheds, where they feel more protected. Therefore, an increase in the density of stationary animals occurs (both grazing and resting), as well as an increased use of the grass and increased droppings. On the other hand, there is an under-utilization and the risk of reforesting of the areas farther away.

Despite these problems, all the malgas are alpine farmed and the demand is greater than the supply. This favorable situation depends on a set of factors that can be briefly listed as follows:

• high concentration of dairy cattle breeding both in the Plateau and in the nearby plains area (alto padovano and east vicentino);
• malgas with infrastructures capable of providing adequate services for the current breeding needs; actually, thanks to continuous hygiene-health upgrade operations to the buildings, in many malgas the transformation of milk is now possible, and therefore also cheese production in accordance with the requirements set forth by the health system and in complete safety;
• interesting economic support operations;
• commercial and economic promotion of the malga products, favoured by their belonging to typical cheese production areas recognized on an international level;
• greater number of tourists in the territory, facilitated by an extensive road network that connects the inhabited centers and the malgas.

A very important moment is the annual act of delivery and return of the malga by the competent body to the operator, in the presence of the controlling body, which the regulation identifies in the Unione Montana. This normally occurs shortly before the loading or immediately afterwards. On these occasions, a joint site visit is conducted during which the condition of the pastures is verified, as well as the implementation of the fencing, the efficiency of the ponds, the condition of the buildings and water collection cisterns, the quality of the paintwork, and the cleanliness of the facilities. At the end of the alpine farming period, the malga return operations are carried out with the same methods.

Parallel to the improvement and upgrade actions of the malga structures to allow an increase of the services connected with tourism accommodations, “good practices” must be shared in order to make the malgas increasingly attractive to a local, national, and international public.

Actually, suitable promotion and valorization of the malgas as a “tourism product” promotes the work of the malga operators and improves their conditions. The challenge for the future will be knowing how to meet the expectations of the visitors respecting malga life, in the awareness that the primary activity of pasturing must always and in any case be protected, as the upkeep of this precious and popular environment derives from it.

This also means knowing the best way to communicate the tourist attractions that the territory offers, specifically promoting the opportunity to discover it in a slow way and with respect for the environment, along countless itineraries that can be followed on foot or by bicycle on “The Malga Trail”.