Blog
Certification, education, advocacy, events, industry news and the members behind them — written by the Federation, for the people who make, age, sell and buy the cheese.
A second relief round opens today
A second federal relief program opened its signup window this week, and a margin report the same week shows why dairy producers still need it.
Read postScoring cheese when the panel is remote
The Sensory Evaluation Certificate is holding up well through a year of remote tastings. What the credential actually tests, and why the method translates better than you'd think.
Read postWhat smoke does to a milking herd
Heat, smoke, and a hurried feed change this month can shift a herd's milk before anyone tastes a difference in the cheese. A practical rundown of what to…
Read postReading the cave through smoke season
A West Coast farmstead member rode out a planned power shutoff and a week of smoke-orange skies without losing a single wheel. Here's how she read the cave…
Read postThe cave watching the sky
A small farmstead creamery in southern Oregon spent this week deciding, day by day, whether smoke and an evacuation warning meant the cave or the truck came first.
Read postWhat Costing a Make actually taught us
Tuesday's free webinar on costing a make drew one of our biggest virtual turnouts yet. Here's what came up in the questions, and where to find the worksheet.
Read postA busy case, a quiet counter
Retail cheese sales have kept climbing all summer while restaurant and tasting-room accounts stay flat. Members selling into both channels are learning to live with the gap.
Read postWhat the competition judge credential covers when judging moves online
Cheese competitions around the world have been moving their judging online this year. Our Competition Judge Accreditation still applies, but a few of its core skills work differently…
Read postThe quality manager who rebuilt her route
A quality manager at a mid-sized Midwest creamery had to redraw her whole sampling route this year around a production schedule nobody had ever tested before.
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