Beth Marcoot, the farm’s manager, said the farm dates back to the mid-1800s. In 1840, their ancestors, the “Markut” family, set sail from Switzerland to New Orleans, navigating the Mississippi River and finding their home in the Bond-Madison County region of southern Illinois.
Marcoot said that by the mid-1800s, their forebears were already tending to Jersey cattle, and that letterheads from the “Marcoot Jersey Farm” dating back to the 1850s bear witness to that legacy. In 1954, her grandparents bought the farm, and her dad John Marcoot took over after he graduated from high school.
But their interest still lay with the farm. The girls started researching different options, including whether the farm could sustain multiple families, if they could sell the cows or sell the land. Ultimately, they decided to add value by establishing a creamery.
Amy Marcoot oversees the creamery and the sisters’ long-time friend Audie Wall is the vice president of manufacturing. They employ up to 20 people at a time. Linda Marcoot is a certified dietician, so she is the quality assurance coordinator, and John still works every day on the farm.
In 2017, Amy Marcoot worked with Wall to brainstorm what they could do with the whey left over from the cheese-making process. Wall introduced them to Extreme Ice, a frozen treat crafted from crushed fruit, whey and whey isolate that has 20 grams of protein in 5 ounces.
At that time, they also started Dog-O’s Cheesy Chompers, a dried cheese treat made for dogs, and Ice Ice Doggy, an ice cream for dogs.
And to expand their consumer base further, they’ve focused on food sensitivity. Beth Marcoot said some people that are dairy sensitive may not have problems at their creamery. Using genetic testing, they breed the cows to be A2A2.
“People with dairy sensitivity to A1 cow products can often have A2A2 cheese and milk, compared to A1 milk variety which can be found in the cow’s DNA,” she said.
Beth Marcoot said that when they built the barn for the robots, they put in viewing windows so people visiting the farm can watch. The calf barn on the property also has viewing windows and they give school tours. They explain how they depend on different crops for feed and straw for a clean environment for their cows.
“Experiencing a farm can change the way we think about and view things,” Marcoot said.
They have established a nonprofit called Back to the Farm that helps educate others about life on the farm. As part of that they held a Vet Camp last year with the help of a local veterinarian for children ages 7-12.
Then there’s the “Big Cheese.”
They have repurposed an old military vehicle as a Monster Truck that has 12 seats in the back. The truck is called the “Big Cheese,” and when visitors come to the farm, the Marcoots drive them into the back pastures and show them around.
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