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fourthhighestofany
nation.
Wisconsincheesemakershavewon33percentofWorld
CheeseChampionshipfirstprizes(orfourtimesasmanyasanystateornation);Cali-
fornia, less than 5 percent. At the 2012 US Cheese Championship, Wisconsin won
30 of 82 championships. California was only in the single digits.
Look, Wisconsin is the only state to require a master's license to make cheese.
(Also, 90 percent of state milk is used for cheese, and small herds on family farms
raised stress-free—on good soil—will produce quality milk.)
Wisconsin has more than 25 percent of the U.S. cheese market today, while Cali-
fornia has 20.5 percent (experts have for decades predicted California would eclipse
Wisconsin). Wisconsin keeps its lead in specialty cheeses with 650 varietals, while
California has less than half of that.
And yet, things have been far from easy.
In 1993, the unspeakable occurred: California edged ahead of Wisconsin in
whole-milk output—egads. California's dairy output is now hovering around seven
percent more per annum than Wisconsin's. Further, Wisconsin has seen its family
dairy farm numbers dwindle from post-WWII figures approximating 150,000 to less
than 14,000 in 2012; at one grim point, the state lost an average of 1,000 dairy farms
annually. This hurts when 99 percent of your farms are family owned. Apparently,
“America's Dairyland” is a title under siege.
Badger State politicians on Capitol Hill blame the dairy problems on out-
dated—nay,absurd—politics:federalmilk-pricingguidelines,whichpayotherstates
higher rates than Upper Midwest farmers. Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is the nucleus; the
farther you get from that point, the higher the price—up to $3 more per 100 pounds
(milk paying a farmer $1.04 per 100 pounds in Wisconsin fetches a South Florida
farmer $4.18). Wisconsin farmers even resurrected “milk strikes,” dumping milk in
protest. Recent legislation has strengthened the system, however, and solidified reg-
ulations favoring corporate farms.
Not to be completely apocalyptic, Wisconsin, though in a decline, is in little
dangerofcompletelylosingitsculturalunderpinningsofruralAmericana.Supplying
so much of the cheese in the United States still equals a huge market—and predicted
U.S. cheese consumption increases will help. (In fact, as of 2012, the state was in-
creasing cheese production by two percent annually.) And Badger farmers are find-
ing ways to stem the tide of disappearing farms. One innovative program involves
