Agricultural and forestry cooperative Gozd Bled
Farmers in the Bled area have been organising into co-operatives since 1898, when the first predecessors of the existing agricultural and forestry co-operative Gozd Bled were established in Bled and Gorje. Before the end of the Second World War, co-operatives supplied local inhabitants and hotel guests. During that time cheese-making was kept alive by the co-operatives of the villages Podhom, Bodešče and Selo. After the war, there were several attempts at reviving the cheese-making tradition on mountain pastures (e.g. Kranjska dolina, Belska planina and Selška planina), which, unfortunately, did not last long.
Farms
The beautiful cultural landscape surrounding Lake Bled has been shaped through the millennia by local farmers who take their herds to graze for part of the year on the meadows in the valley and on the nearby plateaus of the Julian Alps to which they are bound by ties of pride and affection.
High-quality cow's milk from family farms organised in to an agricultural and forestry co-operative is used to make a delicious culinary delight - Bled Cheese. Each farm carries a unique story.
Get to know them.
Farm PRI ŠNETU
Bohinjska Bela
farmer:
Janez Burja
farmer:
Miha Burja
Farm PRI JAMRU
Bohinjska Bela
Farm PRNAČ
Zasip
farmer:
Marko Janša
farmer:
Anton Dežman
Farm PRI VORHU
Podhom
Farm PRI JEKLICU
Spodnje Laze
farmer:
Vinko Frčej
Farm PRI PRNIKARJU
Perniki
farmer:
Boris Kunšič
farmer:
Filip Poklukar
Farm KAMNEK
Zgornje Gorje
31 cows 23 ha
farmer:
Jože Soklič
Farm PR' DOVARJO
Selo pri Bledu
55-60 cows 30 ha
farmer:
Erika Kristan
AMBRUŽEVA Farm
Zasip
160 cows 60 ha
farmer:
Jurij Pristov
farmer:
Jože Mulej
farmer:
Mirko Rimahazi
Cows
Many of these farms still do things the traditional way. Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, farmers still come to their sheds to milk the cows that can be seen grazing the pastures near Bled from early spring to late autumn. Some farms have modernised the sheds and their herds have grown. What all these farmers still have in common, though, is that they have preserved the tradition of grazing cattle on the slopes of the Mežakla, Jelovica and Pokljuka plateaus. Local working farms also cultivate the agricultural land of several farm owners who have abandoned farming.
On the Bled farms, as in general in Slovenia, the most common cattle breeds of cows are Holstein (black and white) and Simmental (brown and white).
Gorje village has been known for cow bell making for centuries. The bells are still used by the a cattle on mountain pastures.
Dairy cows need a well-balanced diet that includes fresh grass, hay, grain and grass, and corn silage.
