great lakes dairy sheep symposium - the Department of Animal ...

e-awaken people to the fact that these cheeses simply taste better than their factory produced
counterparts.
As the farmhouse cheese industry began to regain some momentum, this same group of
people also began to try and influence some of the legislative issues surrounding farmhouse
cheese production. This is a slow and torturous process. However, it is essential for these
producers to be able to continue in the face of the industrialization of the majority of our food
sources.
By the mid 1990’s, the industry was looking very different from one decade earlier. New
cheese makers and cheeses were emerging, largely inspired by the revitalization of the traditional
farmhouse cheese producers and the fact that a viable market was being established. New
specialty cheese stores and wholesalers began to spring up, thus educating the public and
generating demand for quality cheese on a wider basis.
So how does the DBIC fit into all of this? Well, essentially they are striving to achieve the
same goals as those mentioned above. Not only is the DBIC bringing together dairy farmers and
cheese producers with legislators and industry experts, and thus creating a viable future. They are
also ensuring the longevity of this trend by providing an educational platform amongst the public
and those interested in entering the industry.
It is a system that works. Proof of that lies in the U.K. model and the fact that there are now
280 small-scale cheese producers in the U.K. as opposed to approximately 33 in 1984. The same
trend is happening in the U.S. and is exemplified by the increasing number of members of the
American Cheese Society.
Two examples of the positive changes that are taking place in Wisconsin are at Uplands
Cheese and Hidden Springs Farm. Uplands Cheese is a cow milk dairy and cheese production
facility based near Dodgeville and Hidden Springs is a sheep milk dairy near Westby.
Uplands Farm, Dodgeville, Wisconsin
Uplands Cheese is owned by two couples. Mike and Carol Gingrich and Dan and Jeanne
Patenaude.
The business comprises a 300-acre farm and working dairy that was purchased in 1994. Up
until 2004/5, cheese making took place at another cheese plant, using milk from the Uplands
herd.
Mike and Carol Gingrich have lived on a small farm in Wisconsin since 1974. Dan also grew
up on a small neighboring farm and, when he met the Gingriches, he owned and milked 30 cows.
The pattern of dairy farming in Wisconsin is such that, traditionally, there have always been
a large number of small-scale farms. Typically, each farm would have between 15 and 30 cows.
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