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.
Member spotlight: her first solo vat
An apprentice at a small farmstead creamery ran a full cheddar vat alone for the first time this month, right as milk prices dipped and the margin math…
Read postThe credential your fall hire should start with
With fall hiring season starting, the Cheese Foundations Certificate is the credential that gets a new counter or cave hire oriented fastest, and it's shorter than most members…
Read postThe spread between block and barrel
August's milk check slipped again, but the number worth watching is the gap between block and barrel cheddar prices, and what it says about your wholesale margin.
Read postDeciding what stays in the cave a little longer
With cheese inventories tightening industry-wide this month, the affinage call on which wheels to hold and which to ship is worth more than it usually is.
Read postMember spotlight: two calendars, one farmstead
A farmstead cheesemaker in her third season is running the hay crew and the cave off the same August calendar, and neither one waits for the other.
Read postThe milk that's not reaching every plant the same way
Cooperative-affiliated cheese plants are seeing steady milk this month while others aren't, and that split is starting to show up in wholesale inventory and pricing.
Read postPricing a creamery someone else will run
More than a quarter of dairy operators say they'll step back within five years. A course built for pricing turns out to matter just as much for handoffs.
Read postThe aging clock is under review again
The federal food-safety regulator is re-examining how long raw-milk cheese must age before sale. Here's what's actually being studied, and how to weigh in.
Read postThe cheddar price that stopped sliding
Cheddar hit a five-year low this spring, then held. What that steadiness in the block-and-barrel market means for your fall pricing sheet.
Read post