Farming Magazine - November, 2009

FEATURES

From Pasture to Raw Milk Cheese

For two grazing seasons, David and Terry Rice and their family have made their own Clover Creek cheeses from the raw milk of 70 cows representing a wide range of dairy breeds on their 126-acre farm. By nature, dairy farmers are always busy, but Ojala Farm (“oh-ha-la,” a Spanish word of hope and blessing) in Williamsburg, Pa., jumped to a whole new level of activity when they started up their cheese plant in May 2007.

In the early 1990s, the Rices launched a Holstein dairy in the south-central mountains of Pennsylvania and soon switched their cows to a grass-based diet with intensive pasture grazing from April to Thanksgiving. In 2005, they began selling their Clover Creek Cheese Cellar farmstead cheese that someone else was making from their milk. Rice says, “It’s a lot more work than you think it is. I guess the ideal situation would be to have someone in the family coming back to work focused just on that or somebody in the family old enough that wants to make it their focus. Basically, cheese-making is another full-time job and marketing is another full-time job, and if you can’t find somebody to do that, you’re going to go crazy.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF OJALA FARM. Ojala cows on pasture, with a Milking Shorthorn in the foreground.

Faith and family stand out in the farm’s mission statement. The five Rice children are a vital part of the workforce at Ojala Farm: Anthony is 18; Yolanda is 15; Jesse is 12; Austin is 9; and Vannika is 7. Rice says, “The kids have pretty much taken over afternoon milkings, and they do more of the moving the cattle around the pasture—and they’re all very much involved in the cheese-making process. It takes just about all of us to get that done.

“Most mornings, Terry and I will milk and then either Anthony or Yolanda will come out and start the cheese-making process, and then once I’m done milking, I’ll go change into clean clothes and take over the cheese-making.”

The Rices took cheese-making classes anywhere and everywhere for five or six years. “That was a little helpful, but once you start doing it yourself, it’s amazing what you didn’t learn in that class,” Rice says. They appreciate the Pennsylvania Farmstead and Artisan Cheese Alliance (www.pacheese.org) and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) (www.pasafarming.org).

The Rice family at the Boalsburg Farmers’ Market: Terry, David, Jesse, Vannika, Anthony, Austin and Yolanda.

“What really helped us out—July after we put in our cheese plant in May—PASA sponsored a class here and that, just having the cheese maker here going through our system, it was very helpful. I would say it’s definitely worth hiring a consultant for the first two or three times you make cheese,” Rice says. The Clover Creek Cheese Cellar facility cost about $50,000.

Raw milk enthusiasts

Ojala Farm is the only dairy farm in Blair County, Pa., with “full-time” grazing cows and the only dairy certified to sell raw milk. Raw milk sales in the United States. are permitted in 28 states; in most other states, it is either illegal or very restricted. A Pennsylvania dairy farmer can be licensed to sell raw milk directly from the farm, either bottled or in the customer’s own container. Farms in the Keystone State licensed to sell raw milk are held to high standards of sanitation and refrigeration and are subject to rigid inspections and regular lab testing of milk.

Rice is a strong advocate for the advantages of raw milk. “To me, the biggest thing is the natural enzymes. Once you start doing some research, it’s amazing how much is destroyed by pasteurization,” he explains. Enzymes, such as lactase and lipase, help digest milk; other enzymes help with absorption of calcium. Many people who cannot easily digest pasteurized milk can handle raw milk better. Rice reasons that since milk can be a clean product to begin with, it really isn’t any more dangerous than pasteurized milk if it is produced on a clean farm.

Yolanda and Jesse Rice cutting cheese in the cheese plant.

Farming as naturally as possible, the Rice family wants a healthy life for themselves, their community and the environment. Clover Creek runs through their farm with a sign that reads “Clean Water Farm Award” for their efforts in establishing permanent pastures and keeping cows away from the wetlands. Ojala Farm is not certified organic, but preventative cow care and natural treatments are the rule. The Rice family finds that cows with good, constant pasture and little grain stay very healthy on their own.

Innovative ideas in milking and breeding

As a seasonal dairy farm freshening cows only in the spring, they have milked three times a day when milk prices were high and cows were peaking in production. They have milked twice a day, three times in two days, and around Thanksgiving they start milking once a day. In early February 2009, they stopped shipping milk and milked a few cows in a pail until cows started calving in March.

Cows are milked in a “swing eight” parlor made in New Zealand by Waikato, which specializes in milking systems for grassland farmers. The crossbred herd averages about 14,000 pounds of milk a year with 3.9 to 4 percent butterfat and 3.1 to 3.2 percent protein. Much of their milk is shipped to the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, which allows them to use their own milk as needed for raw milk customers and cheese-making.

Many grazing dairies crossbreed cattle to obtain good, efficient grazers, but few incorporate as many breeds as Ojala Farm—partly because everyone in the family likes a different breed. As each kid gets old enough to start showing cattle, another breed joins the herd. “I started with the Holsteins,” Rice says “My oldest son liked Jerseys. The oldest daughter decided to add some Ayrshires and our next son decided to have Milking Shorthorns, and now the next youngest son just got a Brown Swiss. The youngest daughter is thinking Red and Whites, but she’s not sure yet.” Milking Shorthorns are emerging as a dominant breed in the herd with some Montbeliard, Swedish Red and Norwegian Red breeding also in the genetic mix. A.I. sires and cleanup bulls are used in a tight breeding timeline every summer.

The milking parlor at Ojala Farm.

Cows that calve in March and April are the ones that survive at Ojala Farm. This year, cows not fresh by the third week in April were sold at an annual dairy auction in the area. “Seasonal is more important than anything else,” Rice says. “Because it really seems the May calves just never have got caught up. They never do quite as well as the March and April calves do.”

Ojala Farm cows typically see fresh pasture twice a day with two water tubs in every paddock hooked up to plastic pipes fed by a well pump. The cattle receive a small amount of grain year-round, along with purchased corn silage and dry hay in the winter. A neighboring farmer fills their tower silo with corn silage in the fall. Except for the worst weather, cows leave the free-stall barn and roam outside in winter, grazing a surprising amount of grass even then.

Rice has less machinery than a lot of hobby farmers do: a John Deere 2955, a Bobcat S130 skid-loader, a mower for pasture-clipping and a small manure spreader.

The biggest challenge

Raw milk sales at the farm inch higher every year. In January 2009, 25 people purchased milk by the gallon. Clover Creek cheeses and homegrown beef and eggs also tempt visitors.

Clover Creek Cheese Cellar (www.clovercreekcheese.com) markets a range of farmstead cheeses with names that reflect family and locality. Uncle Joe’s Brick cheese is named for a family member who is a mason; “Dillicious” cheese has dill and mustard, a taste that’s big at the farmers’ market in Cumberland, Md.; Shellytown Jack honors the hamlet in the Rice’s neighborhood; and Royer Mountain Baby Swiss, their sharpest cheese, gives local geography its due.

Rice admits, “Our biggest challenge still is sales. When you’re running a farm and making cheese, getting off the farm to sell is pretty tough. In 2007, I made about 7,000 pounds of cheese and last year I made almost 13,000 pounds.” Selling cheese at three farmers’ markets, they deliver and ship cheese to natural foods stores, cheese shops, tourist spots, restaurants and through their Web site.

Seasonal dairy farms can offer, theoretically at least, a bit of respite from the cows and the Rices do get a few days off here and there, especially in the winter. Neighbors and a part-time employee help take care of the farm. In summer, the kids show their cows and calves at the local fair and often go on to Harrisburg for the Pennsylvania State Fair, an outing that Rice describes as a vacation.

The author is a freelance contributor based in Brooktondale, N.Y. Comment or question? Visit www.farmingforumsite.com and join in the discussions.