E-edition PLUS unlimited articles & videos
Personalized news alerts with our mobile app
*FREE access to newspapers.com archives
Hundreds of games, puzzles & comics online
*Refers to the latest 2 years of agupdate.com stories. Cancel anytime.
Bob Bade farms near Monroe, Wisconsin; he's one of 25 members of the Maple Leaf Cheese Cooperative, which is seeking a new home for its milk. The farmer cooperative and its cheesemaking partner couldn't reach an agreement.
Shirley Knox, president of Maple Leaf Cheesemakers, and Paul Reigle, the company's master cheesemaker, walk outside the plant near Twin Grove, Wisconsin. The cheesemakers plan to soon outsource most of their production to other plants.
Milk from the Maple Leaf Cheese Cooperative's 25 farmers is collected and delivered for cheese production. The farmers have provided about 3.5 million pounds of milk per month to Maple Leaf Cheesemakers, which has created 400,000 pounds of cheese per month.
A worker at Maple Leaf Cheesemakers stirs a batch of Cheddar in 2014. Access to the plant is now limited due to concerns about COVID-19.
A worker from Maple Leaf Cheesemakers prepares to draw a sample from a milk truck as it arrives at the cheese plant.
'We were going to have do something eventually just to pay the bills at the co-op and pay the farmers a fair price,' says Bob Bade, who serves on the board of the Maple Leaf Cheese Cooperative.
MONROE, Wis. – Maple Leaf Cheese Cooperative has weathered milk-market cycles for 110 years. Then 2020 happened. The cooperative – comprised of 25 dairy farmers – is now needing to find a new market for its milk after negotiations soured with Maple Leaf Cheesemakers, a long-time partner.
Lynn Grooms writes about the diversity of agriculture, including the industry’s newest ideas, research and technologies as a staff reporter for Agri-View based in Wisconsin.
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.
MONROE, Wis. – Maple Leaf Cheesemakers Inc. will stop as of Dec. 7 making cheese at the Maple Leaf Cooperative-owned factory. The cheese compa…
Shirley Knox, president of Maple Leaf Cheesemakers, and Paul Reigle, the company's master cheesemaker, walk outside the plant near Twin Grove, Wisconsin. The cheesemakers plan to soon outsource most of their production to other plants.
Milk from the Maple Leaf Cheese Cooperative's 25 farmers is collected and delivered for cheese production. The farmers have provided about 3.5 million pounds of milk per month to Maple Leaf Cheesemakers, which has created 400,000 pounds of cheese per month.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.
