Tuesday's Webinar: Seasonal Milk Variation 2026 drew one of the bigger virtual crowds we've had this quarter, which tracks — this is the time of year when make sheets start fighting back. Spring flush is arriving in herds across the country, protein and fat ratios are shifting week to week, and more than a few members log in every March asking the same question: why did the exact same recipe behave differently this batch? The timing wasn't an accident on our end, either; the federal outlook update that same day flagged milk production running ahead of last year's pace, which is exactly the kind of supply shift that shows up first as a composition change on your own make floor.
The short answer the instructors gave is that it usually isn't the recipe. It's the milk. Research on seasonal and pasture-based herds backs that up: composition and even heat coagulation behavior shift measurably between calving systems and time of year, not because of anything a cheesemaker did, but because of what's happening upstream in the herd. Rising fat and protein through spring change how fast a vat sets, how much moisture a curd holds, and how a wheel presses — which means a make sheet written in January can need real adjustment by April. For members who'd been chasing an inconsistent result without a clear cause, that reframing alone seemed to be worth the hour.
The practical part
Most of the session was spent on what to actually track. The instructors walked through a simple weekly log — milk fat percentage, set time, and final moisture — that lets a maker see the drift coming before a batch goes wrong instead of diagnosing it after the fact. A few members in the chat pushed back that logging one more thing during the busiest stretch of the year feels like a lot to ask. Fair. The counter the instructors offered: a thirty-second entry now is cheaper than a wheel you have to sell as seconds later, and the log gets easier to skim once you have a few weeks of spring behind you to compare against.
There was also a good exchange about buying milk versus making it. Members who source from a shared or cooperative supply asked how much visibility they realistically have into the herd's seasonal shift. The instructors' advice: ask your supplier for a running fat and protein number if they'll share one, and if they won't, track your own finished-product moisture closely enough that you can back into the pattern yourself over a season. One member pointed out that a supplier switching from a spring-calving to a more extended calving schedule can shift the whole curve without ever telling you why — worth asking about directly rather than assuming this year just behaves like last year.
If you missed it
The recording is posted to the course library under the same title, and it pairs well with Milk Quality & Herd Health for members who want the herd-side view alongside the make-floor one. The federation runs some version of this session most springs because the questions repeat every year — new members hit the same puzzle their first spring flush, and a refresher rarely hurts even for people who've been through a dozen of them. If you have a spring make-sheet problem the webinar didn't answer, the Education Committee takes questions through the member portal and will point you to whoever on staff can actually help.
The International Cheese Federation (ICF) and More Cheese are entirely fictional. This post is demonstration content created for MemberJunction. All people, organizations, events, courses, certifications, figures, and quotations in it are invented, and nothing here represents a real association, a real business, a real person, or real professional advice.