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.

Industry News

The container shortage and your case

Ocean freight is backed up worldwide and it is reaching the cheese case. Here is what members are telling us and what to check before your next order.

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Member Spotlight

The renewal notice she almost let lapse

A small-creamery member nearly let her membership expire this fall without noticing. What brought her back says something about who we should be checking in on.

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Certification

What judge accreditation doesn't teach you until you need it

Competition Judge Accreditation looks like a scoresheet credential on paper. Most of what it actually trains only shows up once you're sitting at the table.

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Advocacy

The 60-day rule is under review again

The federal aging requirement for raw-milk cheese is getting another look, and the federation is asking members to weigh in before the comment window narrows.

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Advocacy

The small-producer exemption fight isn't over

Federal preventive-controls rules apply differently depending on a creamery's size, and members are asking us to keep pressing for a clearer, more workable small-producer exemption.

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Certification

The counter credential earning its keep

As specialty cheese sales recover from a rough pandemic stretch, members running counters are leaning harder on the Certified Cheesemonger credential to justify the case space.

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Industry News

Spot prices firm as plants run short-staffed

School bottling demand has eased for the season, but cheese-plant staffing shortages are keeping spot milk premiums firm and complicating how members plan a fall order.

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Education

What a small cave needs from fall

As outside humidity and temperature swing with the season, a small aging room needs a different plan than it did in August. Here's what that plan should cover.

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Member Spotlight

A member from Tasmania, joining upside down

A new member from Tasmania on joining a federation whose committee calls fall in the middle of his night, and why virtual sessions made that workable in the…

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