The Pennsylvania Dairy Investment Program recently awarded grants to two Berks County cheese makers as a way to help stimulate the ailing dairy industry. The grants are meant to encourage more businesses that use milk.
Valley Milkhouse will receive $42,118 for the purchase and installation of milk processing equipment at its processing facility in Oley Township. The hope is to double cheese production in 2019 from 13,000 pounds a year to 22,000 pounds said Stephanie Angstadt, Valley Milkhouse owner and operator.
Currently the facility has one 100 gallon vat for cheese making. The grant has made it possible to order a second, 250 gallon vat plus a cheese press. Part of the money will also go to the construction of additional space for ageing cheese.
“We are not just paying commodity prices for good quality milk with high fat and protein,” Angstadt said. “I can pay a premium for the milk because the cheese supports that.”
The new equipment will allow the facility to add to its current soft cheese varieties including feta, Brie and clover— a type of cream cheese. The facility will also start producing hard cheese varieties such as Gouda and Gruyere.
“It’s a little scary and intimidating,” Angstadt said. “But it is really good to have the backing of the state. We have a dairy crisis because milk prices are low. People are drinking less milk, but they are eating cheese.”
Another grant, $40,078, goes to Rebecca Ruth Seidel for the construction of a milk processing facility on her family’s dairy farm in Womelsdorf.
Seidel developed yogurt, Greek yogurt, chocolate milk and ricotta recipes for larger dairy and now she will make her own product line with her herd of 20 Ayrshire cows.
“I am planning on making fresh made cheese and other fermented dairy products such as yogurt and labneh which is a highly drained yogurt,” Seidel said.
She will build a kitchen in a prefabricated shed and write a report about the experience that can be used by other farmers.
She hopes to start with an on site farm and also sell at farmers markets.
“The grant gave me the opportunity to hit the ground running,” Seidel said.
