Earlier this week, I posted a blog about a friend from California who -- while visiting Milwaukee -- bought Wisconsin cheese curds to give to his friends as souvenirs. I asked him why a Californian would buy cheese in Wisconsin, considering his home state rivals ours for cheese production, and he claimed he preferred Wisconsin cheese because it was made on family farms versus California's corporate farms.
Patrick Geoghegan, Senior Vice President of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, responded to my blog with some very interesting information, including random cheese factoids and an explanation of the modern Wisconsin family farm dynamic.
Here are some excerpts from his detailed email:
1. The average dairy herd on a Wisconsin farm is about 85, whereas California averages about 900 cows per farm.
2. In Wisconsin, 99 percent of diary farms are family owned, however, in recent years, dairy farming families have joined forces and started corporations together so they could enjoy amenities like the occasional vacation. Hence, my friend's belief that Wisconsin doesn't have corporate farms is only partially true.
3. Dairying has a $20.6 billion impact on Wisconsin, which is nearly twice as large as tourism.
4. There are 1.4 million dairy cows in the state, and each one generates about $17,000 in economic activity, creating more than 160,000 jobs. "The unsung fact about the dairy industry is that it doesn't go through a lot of highs and lows -- you can't lay off cows when the price of milk is low. It's a steady industry that contributes mightily to our state economically and socially," says Geoghegan.
5. The Wisconsin vs. California debate is addressed at every national and international cheese competition and Wisconsin wins EVERY time. In fact at the American Cheese Society competition held earlier this month in Vermont, Wisconsin cheese makers captured 20 first place awards and 25 percent of all awards in one of the biggest cheese competitions in the country.
6. At the U.S. Cheese Championships in March, the very largest cheese competition in the country, Wisconsin cheese makers did even better, taking home 57 percent of all awards.
7. The size of the farm has nothing to do with quality -- the individual dairy producer and the team he has in place -- is what determine quality.
8. There are 1,300 cheese makers in Wisconsin.
9. The Milk Marketing Board built a Web site dedicated to cheese curds, eatcurds.com. "If the curds don't squeak, it's just not the same," says Geoghegan.
Bottom line? California, stick with the avocado.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
