Explore Value-Added Dairy - Three Learning Opportunities

Have you thought about processing your own milk, cheese, yogurt or ice cream? How would you go about changing your business model, marketing and making your own product? Three workshop opportunities are available for farmers to explore these options this spring.

Adding Value to Your Farm: Exploring On-Farm Dairy Processing will be offered 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 27, at the Best Western, 100 Spring St., River Falls. It will feature the nuts and

bolts of early business planning including processing practicalities, building a farm-based dairy business and advice from Wisconsin Farmers Union members who are making and marketing food products from cow and goat milk. Wisconsin Farmers Union panelists include Meg Wittenmyer of Bifrost Farms, Josh Bryceson and Rama Hoffpauir of Cosmic Wheel Dairy, and Theresa Depies of Springbrook Dairy.

Michelle Farner, Dairy Pilot Plot Manager from UW-River Falls, and Norm Monsen, a Market

Development Specialist, at the State of Wisconsin will also be featured speakers. The program cost is $15 per person at the door. UW-Extension and Wisconsin Farmers Union have teamed up to offer this workshop. For more information contact Extension educator Mike Travis at 715-672-5214. Register at https://www.wisconsinfarmersunion.com/events.

Making More From Milk is a multi-day learning experience offered by Global Cow and Global Dairy Outreach. It includes visits to processors, visits to retailers, marketing seminars and step-by-step cheese making. The workshop also offers Spanish translation. The workshop runs April 23-25 in Madison. The cost of the workshop is $495/person and the additional cheese making workshop with Cesar Luis (Cesar's Cheese of Columbus) workshop is $200/person. Wisconsin Farmers Union will sponsor three $495 scholarships for members to attend. For more information about the scholarships, contact the WFU state office at 715-723-5561. For more information about the workshop and registration: globalcow.com/making-more-from-milk.

Begin a Farmstead Micro-Creamery is a field day opportunity offered by MOSES focused on what it takes to start and operate a successful on-farm creamery business. Our own members Josh Bryceson and Rama Hoffpauir of Cosmic Wheel Creamery (aka: Turnip Rock Farm) are a great example of farmers looking at dairy a little differently and developing a unique system to give themselves some distance from the commodity market. They will share their experience with this production model and give other producers a real farmer's-eye-view of the process they went through and what they learned and experienced along the way. This field day is May 23 and registration information and field day details can be found on the MOSES website: https://mosesorganic.org/. Original story.