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(cheese, cont.) Gingrich has carved out his own niche with Pleasant Ridge Reserve. Gingrich says the grass must be a perfect height for his cows to graze. Gingrich, his wife and another couple they work with are “farmsteaders,” meaning they produce the milk for the cheese they make—something that is only viable in the specialty cheese market, where profits justify the extra expenses. Gingrich and his wife make the cheese while the other couple takes care of milk production. And it all happens on a single farm. “We have 300 acres, which we divided into 20 pastures,” Gingrich says. “Every day in the summer the cows are moved to a new pasture. That way none of the grass gets eaten down. And we can’t have it go to seed either. At that point it’s lost a lot of its nutritional value. You have to keep one eye on the grass, one eye on the weather and one eye on the cows.” This kind of attention to detail can only happen when the cheese maker takes care of his or her own milk supply. “It’s not the same for these huge cheese operations where the milk comes in in tankers,” Gingrich says. He didn’t have time this year to hold a grand opening at his new cheese factory; he was too busy making cheese. Gingrich’s operation is at the top of the list of success stories the DBIC is excited about. “Over the past four years, 30 state companies have put $200 million into modernizing or creating cheese plants, and Wisconsin is now putting out 50 million more pounds of product as a result,” says Carpenter. “That’s a big change over a short period of time.” To get cheese makers started in producing their own signature cheese and other specialty cheeses, the DBIC refers clients to what they call “incubators”—cheese factories owned by veteran cheese makers willing to share their expertise. Bob Wills, owner of Cedar Grove, a cheese shop and factory, is one of these veteran cheese makers. Cheese makers routinely bring Wills milk and tell him they want to make a signature cheese. Wills makes his own cheese six days a week. For one day a week the factory turns into a laboratory where he guides other cheese makers through experimentation. Wills helped Gingrich develop Pleasant Ridge Reserve. The DBIC wants to encourage more small and up-and-coming cheese makers to form these types of connections. Heading west on Highway 14, I drive out to Cedar Grove. The dairy is outside Spring Green in the tiny village of Plain. With cropped hair and casual black jeans, store employee Marlene Dilley stands behind the counter, chatting with a young man who works in the plant. When she sees me come in, she gets out a map of the Plain area to teach me about this slice of rural Wisconsin. “The stars show how many cheese makers there were within a 10-mile radius in the early 1900s. Cedar Grove is the only one left,” she says. The handmade map, made of poster board, markers and gold star-shaped stickers, shows where 24 cheese makers once had family operations. |
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