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.
The listeria risk most caves miss
The riskiest surface in a small creamery usually isn't the wheel - it's the drain, the mat, or the wooden shelf underneath it. Here's where environmental monitoring actually…
Read postA quality manager's April walkthrough
One of our members walks her creamery's whole production floor every April before the busy season ramps up. We asked what she's actually looking for and why the…
Read postThe cave that went dark
A member in the path of Monday's eclipse closed the shop, walked into the cave with the whole crew, and came back to a cheese case that hadn't…
Read postThe aging rule that's back under review
The federal food-safety regulator is taking a fresh look at how long raw-milk cheese must age before sale. Here's what's actually on the table and how to weigh…
Read postCheese prices finally turn up
Wholesale cheese climbed to a multi-month high this spring as milk production slowed and specialty demand kept growing. Here's what it means for your case.
Read postThe aging clock nobody gets to shortcut
A federal food-safety agency is revisiting how it treats raw-milk products in its traceability rules. It hasn't touched the sixty-day aging requirement, and our advocacy work is aimed…
Read postCheese prices climbed while milk waited
Wholesale cheese and butter both firmed up in late March and early April even as milk production forecasts came down. A look at what that split means for…
Read postA retailing workshop two time zones away
Tuesday's Workshop: Birch Retailing gathers counter managers outside the usual conference circuit. A preview of what the agenda covers and why the location matters.
Read postA traceability exemption worth tracking
The federal recordkeeping clock on traceable foods is still running toward its 2026 deadline. We want your make-floor numbers before the small-producer exemption line gets drawn.
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