la leche

Dairy farming is an important part of the economy for much of rural Nicaragua, especially in San Jose de la Mula in the Matagalpa region. Milking begins around 5:00 a.m. each day and it's all done by hand. The milk is immediately strained through cheesecloth into these milk canisters (just the way my grandfather did it on our farm). While some is sold to larger cooperatives, much of the product remains in the community.

This group of young men are assigned the task of making local deliveries of the still warm milk. The canisters are loaded two at a time onto horses and the deliveries are made throughout the mountainous countryside. It is in turn processed into cheese or less often used for drinking and cooking. Being on this dairy farm truly felt like home - the sounds, the smell and of course the farmers. There is something unique about a dairy farmer.