Publications

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.

Advocacy

The margin window closing before the year does

A federal margin-support enrollment window for dairy producers closes in less than two weeks. Here's what it means for your cheese business and how to weigh in on…

Read post
Advocacy

The label language worth getting right

A federal comment period on cheese labeling language closes early next year, and the wording that sounds fine to a cheesemaker can read very differently to a regulator.

Read post
Member Spotlight

The cave that doesn't get a holiday

A member's aging room doesn't know it's Thanksgiving. We asked an affineur what actually happens to a cave during the one week a year everyone else is off.

Read post
Industry News

The margin behind the price

Retail milk prices have stayed near record highs for months, and members tell us the number that actually keeps them up at night is the feed bill sitting…

Read post
Member Spotlight

The distributor planning around the first freeze

A regional distributor member spent years treating winter weather as bad luck. This year she built her routing around it instead, before the first hard freeze, not after.

Read post
Certification

What judge accreditation actually asks of you

Competition Judge Accreditation isn't a reward for having a good palate. It's a specific set of habits, and members renewing this winter tell us the scoring discipline is…

Read post
Education

Building a tasting memory before December

Before the case gets busy with holiday questions, it's worth training your palate the way a judge trains theirs — deliberately, not by accident. A look at what…

Read post
Member Spotlight

Training three new hires before the rush

A specialty shop manager in the Pacific Northwest hired three seasonal staff for the holiday rush and has three weeks to get them ready. We asked how she's…

Read post
Events

Burlington pasta filata workshop recap

Tuesday's stretched-curd workshop in Burlington filled its hands-on stations early. Here's what members took home from a full day of stretching, texture checks, and shared frustration.

Read post