Lowville Cheese Cow Keeping Safe from Coronavirus

Lady LeWinDa Milkzalot, the mascot of the Lowville Cheese Store, is keeping her distance and trying to remain healthy during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Finger Lakes Cheese Festival July 27

Do you love cheese?

Then this event is for you.

Happy Dairy Month From Dairy State Number 3!!

There we are folks, at number 3.

Happy Dairy Month.

To see where your state falls, check out the USDA statistics at http://bit.ly/2L6n6kj

Happy National Cheese Day!

It's National Cheese Day.

I'm sorry, but this should be a day off from work. I need to be home with my cheese.

Go to https://www.worldnationaldays.com/national-cheese-day-2018/ to see more.

Hailey Pipher of Chemung County Named New York State Dairy Princess for 2018-19

From left, first alternate Alexis Payne of Lewis County, State Dairy Princess Hailey Pipher of Chemung County and second alternate Zoie Skinner of Onondaga County.

Hailey Pipher of Chemung County was chosen as the new New York State Dairy Princess after two days of competition at the Holiday Inn, Salina.

Chosen first alternate was Alexis Payne from Lewis County and second alternate is Zoie Skinner from Onondaga County.

As state princess, Pipher receives a $1,200 scholarship and will represent the American Dairy Association North East at county dairy princess pageants, farm meetings and a variety of special events, which includes training new county princesses at a summer seminar.

Payne and Skinner receive a $700 scholarship and $600 scholarship, respectively. Both will assist the State Dairy Princess with training, appearances and other duties.


The New York State Dairy Princess contest concluded Tuesday with the crowning after a two days of judging at the Holiday Inn in Salina, north of Syracuse. 

A total of 16 girls who had already won their county dairy princess contests participated in the state pageant. They had to take tests to judge their dairy knowledge and writing skills, go through intensive interviews with the three judges, give both impromptu and prepared speeches and also were judged on their informal interaction with others.

Judges evaluate contestants on communication skills, knowledge of the dairy industry, poise and personality. 

Pipher will serve as New York State Dairy Princess for one year and will promote dairy farmers and dairy products throughout the state in schools, industries, companies and at special events.

The big event for the dairy princess each year is the New York State Fair in Geddes, west of Syracuse. She and other county dairy princesses man the dairy princess booth inside the Dairy Products building and make special appearances throughout Dairy Day at the fair.

The new princess takes over for Sarah Rohe of Onondaga County, who was New York State Dairy Princess for 2017-18.

Pageant judges were: Judi Dixon, International Sales, Dot Foods; Davis Chlus, Morgan Stanley, Senior Vice President; and Holly Pullis, Hollywood Enterprises & Roedale Farm.
 
Other award winners were (in no particular order):

Written communications -- Connie Frasier, Herkimer County; Hailey Pipher, Chemung County; Natalie Vernon, Wayne County.

Speech winners -- Alexis Payne, Lewis County; Hailey Pipher, Chemung County; and Natalie Vernon, Wayne County.

Product knowledge winners -- Kathryn Bosley, Franklin County; Hailey Pipher, Chemung County; Zoie Skinner, Onondaga County.

Miss Congeniality -- Megan Wilmot, Otsego County

Finalists for state dairy princess -- Sonya Helms, Cortland County; Elizabeth Maslyn, Ontario County; Alexis Payne, Lewis County; Hailey Pipher, Chemung County; Zoie Skinner, Onondaga County; Natalie Vernon, Wayne County; and Abigail Wratten, Oneida County.

American Dairy Association North East is the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council® and the regional consolidation of three promotion organizations including the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, Inc., Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program. 

Committed to nutrition education and research-based communications, the association provides science-based nutrition information to, and in collaboration with, a variety of stakeholders committed to fostering a healthier nation, including health professionals, educators, school nutrition directors, academia, industry, consumers and media. 

    

Local Producers Can Taste Test Products at Fort Drum Commissary

Here is some important information from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County:

Are you a producer trying to market a value added product? 

As part of the Food Hub Initiative Cornell Cooperative Extension and Food Venture Advisors (FVA) invite you to participate in a taste-testing of your product to a potentially significant market – Military Commissaries in the North East.

Northern New York producers making/marketing eligible products will lead the way by showcasing their value added foods at a taste testing in the Fort Drum Commissary from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 17.

Food Venture Advisors is searching for high quality, value added products that can meet required year round quantity and food safety standards and which contain mostly locally produced ingredients.  Producers will be asked to supply samples of their products to FVA.   

Samples should be delivered to CCE – Jefferson no later than Nov. 1. Examples of value added products include locally produced cheeses, pickled vegetables, jams, jellies, meat jerky, mustards etc. 

Producers with products that meet the criteria will be notified and should deliver their samples and for-sale products to the FVA warehouse at 200 Howk St., Watertown on Nov. 14. 

Products will be evaluated to ensure the product meets required quality, ingredients, packaging, production history, estimated capacity, etc.  

On the day of the event, FVA will transport all products to the Commissary in refrigerated vehicles.   Any unused products can be returned to CCE Jefferson office for producers to pick up after the event.   

Producers are invited to attend and participate at the event and will be carpooled onto the Fort from CCE – Jefferson Office starting at 9 a.m. Producers will be allowed to sell their product during the tasting. However, samples are not reimbursable. 

Please bring your own sample spoons, cups, napkins, plates, signage, etc. The Commissary will provide: tables, trash, staff and marketing.

Products which attract significant interest at the event will be selected by the Commissary staff.  Selected products will be stocked on a limited basis and distributed by FVA to the Fort Drum Commissary.   

Note: as with any retail opportunity distribution fees and retail markups apply. However, Commissaries generally mark up products only 5 percent. 

For more information contact Remy Cline at (315) 789-0042.

Finger Lakes Cheese Festival is Saturday, July 22

Bringing together the best in Finger Lakes produced cheeses from the members of the Finger Lakes Cheese Alliance as well as the best in homemade jams, jellies, baked goods, peanut butters, salsas, vegetables, art, wine, beer and cider. 

Live music all day, TONS of food for every palate and LOTS MORE! 

Add to that the ambiance of the farm, self-guided tours, hay rides, games for the kids and you have a fun family event.

Tickets on sale for $5 online until the day of the event, $8 at the door, children under 12 are free.

The event is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sunset View Creamery in Odessa, in Schuyler County. Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-finger-lakes-cheese-festival-tickets-30311718165 to buy tickets.

Dairy Day at State Fair Moves to New Day

If you always go to the New York State Fair on Dairy Day, get out your calendars.

Dairy Day is mooooooving this year.

Dairy Day will be Thursday, Aug. 31 at the 2017 State Fair. It had to be moved because the normal day -- the first Monday of the fair -- is change out day for the dairy cattle in the dairy barn. If Dairy Day had been held on the first Monday Aug. 28, there wouldn't have been any dairy cattle in the dairy barn.

"What is Dairy Day without dairy cattle?" asked Mary Ellen Chesbro, New York State Fair coordinator and agricultural manager.

The 2017 fair willl celebrate the 41st anniversary of Dairy Day wit new events and opportunities for fairgoers, said Acting Fair Director Troy Waffner.

New this year, guests will have an opportunity to win gift baskets filled with New York dairy products by visiting popular dairy attractions and answering trivia questions.

In addition, the fair is partnering with two New York State Certified processors to bring top-notch, local dairy products to the fairgrounds, including a New York State Fair-branded cheese. 

In 2016, more than 82,000 people visited the Fair on Dairy Day. 

 

"Dairy Day is a great opportunity to recognize the hard work of our dairy farmers who make delicious products. We are excited to put the industry on display at the fair and highlight their many contributions to agriculture," Waffner said. "I encourage our guests to stop at the Dairy Products Building, Dairy Cow Birthing Center, and join us at the many special activities on Dairy Day as we celebrate our farmers and processors across the state.”

 

New York yogurt

For the first time, guests can enter a drawing to win Taste NY dairy gift baskets by answering trivia questions when they visit three popular dairy attractions on Dairy Day. To participate, guests can pick up a copy of the questions at any of the fair’s six Guest Relations locations. 

They can find the answers by visiting the Milk Bar, Cheese Booth, and Yo2GO Yogurt Bar. When a guest has completed the questions, they can drop off their answers at the Dairy Cow Birthing Center where they will be entered to win. Three winners will be selected at the conclusion of Dairy Day. 

 

Both the Milk Bar and Cheese Booth will be offering delicious, high-quality dairy products made by two New York State Certified Dairy processors — Byrne Dairy and McCadam Cheese. 

Byrne Dairy, a fourth generation, family-owned dairy processor and distributor, will supply milk for the Milk Bar, one of the fair’s longest-standing traditions. The Milk Bar is being sponsored by Tully’s Good Times and New York’s official beverage will continue to be sold for 25 cents per cup. Last year, 398,059 cups of white and chocolate milk were sold. 

A previous butter sculpture

Fairgoers will also have the opportunity to sample and purchase award-winning McCadam Cheese at the Cheese Booth. McCadam will also be unveiling a NYS Fair-branded cheese. 

For the fourth year, a cheese sculptor will also be carving images out of a block of New York state white cheddar at the Cheese Booth on select days. The sculptures are being sponsored by the New York State Cheese Manufacturers Association. 

 

In addition, the YO2GO Yogurt Bar will mark its fourth anniversary at the fair, making it easy for fairgoers to enjoy New York’s official state snack— fresh New York regular and Greek-style yogurt with a choice of 15 fresh toppings. 

The 49^th Annual Butter Sculpture, created by American Dairy Association North East, will be sponsored by Wegmans Food Markets. The sculpture will be revealed Aug. 22, the day before the fFair opens, and will be on display throughout the fair. 

All of these exhibits are located in the Dairy Products Building and open during all 13 days of the Fair. 

 

Dairy Day will also feature a variety of activities to showcase the State’s dairy industry, beginning with the Recognition Awards & Awards Breakfast at 9 a.m. in the Empire Room, with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. 

As part of the awards ceremony, Dairy of Distinction Awards and the Commissioner’s PRO-DAIRY Service Awards will be presented. In addition, winners of the New York State Fair Dairy Products Competition, which includes entries in the cheese, fluid milk and other dairy products categories, will also be announced. 

The “Big Cheese” Auction will immediately follow and be led by auctioneer and chairman of the New York State Assembly Agriculture Committee Bill Magee. This year, the auction will be held in the Empire Room. Guests can bid on blocks of New York state cheese and enjoy samples that will be handed out by dairy princesses.

 
The festivities continue with a Milkshake Contest at 10:30 a.m. in the Chevy Court Pavilion, where local celebrities will compete to see who makes the best shake. The day will end with the Dairy Day Parade, beginning at 6 p.m. in Chevy Court, which features floats, dairy princesses, tractors and milk trucks.

New Owner to Keep Open Campbell Kraft Plant

A Kraft plant that was going to close has been saved.

Go to http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2017/06/30/new-owner-keep-open-campbell-plant-save-150-jobs/103310382/ to check out the story.

Learn About the Dairy Industry at SUNY Cobleskill Event March 7

Check out this event at SUNY Cobleskill on March 7.

New York Invests in Western New York Cheese Enterprise

From Empire Farm & Dairy

By JIM KRENCIK

LINWOOD — New York is investing $2 million into WNY Cheese Enterprise, the latest development by a collaborative of eight Wyoming and Livingston County dairy farms, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Dec. 23.
 
The Empire State Development-backed funding comes from $1.3 million taken out of the half-billion Upstate Revitalization Initiative Capital Grant program, and $700,000 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits tied to the 30 new jobs expected from the business.
 
“Agribusiness is a crucial part of the Upstate New York economy and this new manufacturing facility and the innovative collaboration it will house, will be a big boost to area dairy farmers looking to grow their businesses and create jobs,” said ESD President and CEO Howard Zemsky in announcing the award.
 
The $49.7 million production facility is a partnership between Craig’s Station Creamery, Dairy Farmers of America and Arla Foods. It will be located near the nexus of Livingston, Wyoming and Genesee counties at Noblehurst Farms, where the Craig’s Station Creamery opened in 2014.
 
Craig’s Station Ventures partner Chris Noble said the new 30,000-square foot facility broke ground just south of the creamery facility in August, and will hopefully be making Cheddar cheese by the end of 2017.
Member farms, with the support of DFA — a national dairy cooperative; and Arla Foods — an international dairy cooperative; are making their first foray into finished products after teaming on raw milk and dairy components.
 
“The last few years have been prolific from our dairies, we geared up to meet the needs (of the yogurt industry),” said Noble, Vice President of Noblehurst Farms. “Some of those needs haven’t materialized, so we were left with an oversupply of milk and an interest in having a facility to drive more production.”
 
Why Cheddar?
 
It’s the most consumed cheese in America, Noble said. They expect to produce 15 million pounds of cheese annually from 16 million pounds of raw milk by member farms, which will then be processed in the DFA-operated facility and sold to the retail market by Arla Foods.
 
“We have a tremendous opportunity to not only positively impact the dairy farmers in this area, but also the local community,” said Brian Paris, the general manager of Craig’s Station Creamery.
 
Arla USA CEO Donald Stohrer, Jr. said his company, which has a 20 percent stake in the venture — DFA has a majority stake, with the farms holding the rest — sees the project aligning with customer needs.
 
“(The product will be a) great-tasting, clean label product from a trusted, sustainable and traceable source,” Stohrer said. “Today’s mom has a lot to worry about in her daily life. By providing her with the Cheddar cheese produced through our partnership with DFA, we give her one less thing to fret about, thus making her life just a little bit easier.”
 
A $560,000 Community Development Block Grant from the state was also awarded to support the project. Large scale projects are viable because of good partnerships like these, Livingston County Board of Supervisors Chairman Eric Gott said as part of a chorus of local officials praising the investment.
 
“We are thrilled to add WNY Cheese Enterprise to the growing lineup of food production businesses in Livingston County,” said Livingston County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director Bill Bacon. “The project builds on our strengths in agriculture through milk quality, workforce in food production and central proximity to major markets in the Northeast.”
 
For DFA and Craig’s Station, the creamery has been a success in a market that faces challenges, from a yogurt boom that busted at Mueller Quaker Dairy to Canadian protectionism measures and low commodity prices. WNY Cheese Enterprise is a big project, but it’s fueled by clear goals.
 
“The main drivers for this project are even stronger today than they were over two years ago when we opened the Creamery,” Noble said. “Consumers want to know who produces their food, and they want to know that it was produced in a sustainable way. We thought the timing was right to bring that same message into a high-quality Cheddar cheese.”

USDA Buying Up 11 M Pounds of Cheese

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans Aug. 23 to buy about 11 million pounds of cheese from private inventories to assist food banks and pantries across the nation, while reducing a cheese surplus that is at its highest level in 30 years. 

The purchase, valued at $20 million, will be provided to families in need across the country through USDA nutrition assistance programs, while assisting the stalled marketplace for dairy producers whose revenues have dropped 35 percent over the past two years.

New York State Fair Dairy Product Competitions Winners Announced

Since it's Dairy Day, it would be the perfect time to release the names of Dairy Product competition winners.

Go to http://nysfair.ny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2016-Dairy-Products-results-1.pdf to see a list of all 22 competitions and the winners.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the winners of the 2016 Dairy Products Competition in celebration of the 40^th annual Dairy Day at The Great New York State Fair. 

Twenty-six manufacturers were awarded this year, including Yancey’s Fancy cheese company of Western New York, which earned the Grand Champion award after scoring 99 out of 100 possible points for its Chastinet Sharp and Snappy Asiago-Style Cheese. 

The state’s top-scoring milk belongs to Battenkill Valley Creamery of Salem, the only entry in the competition to earn a perfect score of 100.

The 40^th Annual Dairy Day awarded 26 processors and manufacturers from across the state either gold or silver honors. Four others earned Awards of Excellence.

Other highlights from the competition include:

Upstate Niagara Cooperative earned seven medals, earning the most medals overall. It won gold in the sour cream, buttermilk, and dairy dips categories.

In the cheese categories, McCadam Cheese Co. took five out of six medals for its current, aged, and super-aged cheddar cheeses

HP Hood’s three plants took five out of six medals in three cottage cheese categories.

Argyle Cheese Co. won gold in the flavored yogurt category with its Chocolate Greek Yogurt. 

Entries were submitted for 22 categories, including fluid milk, sour cream, and cottage cheese. The entries are evaluated by eleven expert judges. This year, the chief judge was Charles Lindberg from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Division of Milk Control.

It's Dairy Day at the New York State Fair

It's Dairy Day at the New York State Fair.

Be sure to get out there and see all that's great about dairy in NYS. Oh, the butter, ice cream, cheese, yogurt, milk -- well it goes on and on. 

Talk to a dairy farmer in the Dairy Cattle building and then be sure to stop into the Dairy Products building to enjoy some great dairy products or even buy some to take home.

Taste NY Market Moves to Horticulture Building for New York State Fair

The all-new Taste NY Market at The Great New York State Fair was announced Aug. 4 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The market is part of the governor’s $50 million plan to transform the fairgrounds and improve the experience for visitors. 

Now located inside the landmark Horticulture Building, guests of the Taste NY Market will have the opportunity to enjoy everything New York, from artisan cheeses and gourmet nuts, to local wines, craft beers, spirits and more.
Visitors to the Taste NY Market will have the chance to try free samples of food and beverages from all 76 participating New York vendors and to meet the people behind those products. If you like what you try, you’ll also have the opportunity to buy it on-site directly from the vendor. 

For the first time this year, the operators of the Taste NY store at the Broome Gateway Travel and Tourism Center will also showcase and sell an array of products from their store, including: Bjorn Popcorn, Mini Honey Bears, Emmy’s Macaroons, Field Trip Beef Jerky, Saratoga Crackers and many others.
The vendors featured at the Taste NY Market will rotate daily, during all twelve days of the Fair. A complete list of participating vendors and a schedule of the vendor rotation can be found http://nysfair.ny.gov/food-drink/taste-ny/ at this link.

Finger Lakes Cheese Festival is Saturday, July 23

If you don't have anything to do Saturday, why not head to the Southern Tier for some CHEESE!

The Finger Lakes Cheese Festival is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 23 at Sunset View Creamery in Odessa, Schuyler County. It's a day filled with fun, music and of course, all the cheese a person could ask for.

Go to http://www.flcheesetrail.com/cheese-festival.html for a full schedule of events at the festival.

Happy Dairy Month!!

Happy Dairy Month, everyone.

To celebrate, let's have dairy EVERY day. It not only will help our happiness (doesn't milk, cheese and ice cream make you happy??) but it also will help shore up the milk prices a bit. Farmers throughout New York are hurting with low milk prices brought on by too much production in the world.

I'll do my part to eat more dairy. How about you??

Organic Cheese Plant Working to Meet Demand

By TED BOOKER
EMPIRE FARM & DAIRY
 
Health-conscious consumers sometimes choose to eat organic cheese over the regular variety, and they’re willing to pay more for it because of how it’s made.
 
Those are the kinds of consumers being targeted by Homestead Heritage Cheese, an arm of certified organic dairy farm Homestead Fields on Eiss Road near the hamlet of LaFargeville in Jefferson County. A creamery built on the farm started making cheese curds in October for the business, which is a brainchild of farm owner W. Edward Walldroff and his son-in-law, David Van Pelt II.
 
During a tour of the creamery at the 130-cow, 700-acre farm, Walldroff said the launch of the cheesemaking business came after years of careful planning. While the facility is now making only cheese curds, he said, production will be expanded next spring to include cheddar and possibly blue cheese.
 
Production has started on a small scale at the creamery, where a partial batch of cheese curds is made once a week using a 245-gallon vat and other equipment bought from a company in the Netherlands. But Van Pelt said he believes the business will expand rapidly as more retailers decide to buy wholesale batches of cheese curds. He said the farm, which became a certified-organic operation in 2006, is among a handful across the state that make organic cheese.
 
“We’d like to soon be in New York City and in a couple of artisan cheese stores in Rochester,” said Van Pelt, who completed a course in the summer of 2011 at the University of Vermont’s Institute of Artisan Cheese to become a cheesemaker.
 
The business already has begun to sell organic cheese curds to retailers in the north country, Walldroff said. Eight-ounce packages of curds - priced in stores from about $6 to $8 - are sold at the Mustard Seed health food store in Watertown, 1000 Islands River Rat Cheese in Clayton and a bookstore at St. Lawrence University in Canton. 

“We want to sell it in college towns where there’s a more health-conscious population,” Walldroff said, adding that his long-term business plan calls for eventually opening a retail store in a community along the St. Lawrence River. “We’d like to be able to do it in the next two to five years, and it would be like a health-food store.”
 
Walldroff, whose family has operated the farm here for five generations, said the farm has been run for nearly a decade as an organic operation. To receive a national organic certification, milk is made without using any antibiotics or pesticides. Cows are fed only a mixture of grasses and grain grown organically on the farm.
 
Cheese products made by the farm will complement the organic beef it already sells to area businesses, Walldroff said. The beef comes from the farm’s cull cattle - those not producing enough milk or getting too old.
 
“It all starts with the barn on the ground and the breeds of cattle that are going to produce milk for the best cheese,” Walldroff said. “We’re producing cheese here that others aren’t going to be able to duplicate, and we’re marrying it to an upscale market as a value-added product.”
 
Van Pelt is responsible for making cheese curds each Sunday at the creamery, in the same structure as the milking parlor. The process starts at 6:30 a.m. and typically finishes about 9 p.m., he said, after curds are packaged.
 
The farm bought the cheesemaking equipment in the fall of 2014, thanks to a $12,000 loan from the Development Authority of the North Country’s value-added agriculture loan fund and a $48,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant program.
 
Though the stainless steel vat has room to make larger batches of cheese curds, Van Pelt said, he is now making batches of about 80 to 100 pounds to meet the demand of clients. To start the process, milk is pasteurized by heating it to a temperature of 145 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.
 
He said milk then is cooled to below 100 degrees. Live cheese cultures are added to the milk, which begins to thicken as it’s agitated in the vat. The mixture is stirred slowly until it’s thick enough to cut into slices with a curd knife. 

As part of the process, called “cheddaring,” the semisolid curd is separated from liquid whey that is released from the bottom of the vat. The whey is fed to cattle.
 
“Cheesemaking suits my personality and detail-oriented career background,” said Van Pelt, an accountant at Carthage Area Hospital for five years before joining the farm about four years ago.
 
About 150 packages were made from an 87-pound batch of curds, he said. The curds, which are lightly salted, stay fresh for about a week.
 
Walldroff said he plans to build a concrete “aging facility” at the farm next spring that will be used to age cheeses. He said the aging process can last from six months to two years. 

The climate-controlled facility will be built by Jason Schnauber, a co-owner of the farm who is engaged to marry Walldroff’s daughter, Monica Schnauber, a Clayton native, said his construction experience has come in handy on the farm. He helped build the creamery during the past two years. But he said his daily chores vary widely.
 
“One day I’m a farmer,” he said, “and the next I’m a veterinarian or a builder. Every day has a different chore.”

Agri-Mark to Invest About $30M in Franklin County Cheese Facility

From Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office:

Dairy cooperative Agri-Mark will invest nearly $30 million to expand its cheese manufacturing facility in Franklin County and retain 106 jobs in the North Country.

The expansion will enable Agri-Mark to continue to thrive and support future generations of New York dairy farmers.

"Agri-Mark's investment to expand and modernize its Chateaugay facility is a win-win for the Upstate economic," said Howard Zemsky, Empire State Development president, chief executive officer and commissioner.

The expansion and restoration of Agri-Mark's Chateaugay facility involves rebuilding the current 110,641-square-foot manufacturing facility, reengineering the layout of the facility adn purchasing new machinery and other equipment.

Empire State Development will support the dairy co-op with up to $6 million, including $4 million in Economic Transformation Program money to retain 106 full-time jobs and modernize the Chateaugay operations.  
 

Wisconsin Cheese Wins World Championship

Well, it's not a New York cheese, but at least now a U.S. cheese has won the world cheese championship.

Go to http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/a-wisconsin-cheese-wins-the-world-championship-cheese-contest/article_f0067c29-d83c-533f-a9af-f562297eaf0b.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook to check out the story.

Other U.S. cheeses to make the top 16 in the judging were:

• Cellars of Jasper Hill in Vermont with a Winnimere, a smear ripened soft cheese.
• Central Coast Creamery in California with a Ewenique, a soft & semi-soft sheep's milk cheese.
• Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville with an Extra Aged Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a hard cheese.