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.
Three months of safety-net payments in a row
The federal dairy margin program has now triggered a payment for three straight months this year. Here's what a run like that does and doesn't tell you about…
Read postThe wheel she almost didn't enter
With competition entries due ahead of this month's Annual Conference, one small-batch producer on the wheel she nearly left off her entry list, and the documentation habit that…
Read postCheddar closes June at a three-year high
Block and barrel cheddar closed June at prices not seen since late 2016, with firmer export demand doing a lot of the work. What that does and doesn't…
Read postTwo weeks to the Annual Conference
With the ICF Annual Conference two weeks away, here's what's on the schedule, why the registration desk fills up fastest on the first morning, and what to bring.
Read postA smaller herd and a firmer price
Milk prices have firmed through the spring as the national dairy herd keeps shrinking. For cheesemakers on contract pricing, this is the moment to look at renewal math.
Read postAn affineur's cave in a hot June
A farmstead affineur in the upper Midwest on what a warm June does to an aging room, and why she checks her humidity readings by hand twice a…
Read postTune in: the Wholesale Negotiation webinar
The free Wholesale Negotiation webinar runs this Thursday. Here's what it covers and why this summer's market makes it worth an hour of your time.
Read postRegistration opens: the Clover Pasta Filata workshop
Registration is open for the July 1 Clover cohort workshop on stretched-curd cheeses, timed to a specialty market that keeps outgrowing forecasts.
Read postThe member who's outlasted three cheddar cycles
Six years into his ICF membership and twenty-two into the trade, a regional sales director explains why cheddar's boring reputation is exactly the point.
Read post