Quiz time! Magazine history edition.

Hoard’s Dairyman, the national dairy farm magazine, originated from the pages of the __________.

(Hint: It’s a newspaper from Jefferson County, WI.)

(Scroll past the image to find the answer.)

Hoard’s Dairyman farm

Answer: The Jefferson County Daily Union. https://hoards.com/flex-288-About-Hoards-Dairyman.html

Sark sparks gold!

Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery’s Sark Butterkase cheese won its category for semi-soft cheeses at the United States Championship Cheese Contest.

This month, the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association hosted their 22nd United States Championship Cheese Contest (USCCC) in Green Bay, Wis.

As the nation’s premier technical cheese, butter, and yogurt competition, the USCCC honors the best of entries from within a variety of categories, from mild cheddar to mixed milk cheeses and everything in between.

This year, there were 2,250 entries from 31 states. Each cheese began the competition with 100 points and was evaluated by expert judges based on its flavor, body, texture, color, finish, packaging, and other relevant attributes. Any defects resulted in a docking of points.

Based on these criteria, deserving cheeses in each class received a gold, silver, or bronze award.

Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery’s Sark won “Best in Class” (Gold) for semi-soft cheeses, with 99.25 points.

Made in Monticello, Wis., by cheesemaker Bruce Workman, this Butterkase cheese is named for the isle of Sark, a self-governing, no-cars-on-the-road island that lies in the English Channel just off the coast of Guernsey island — where Guernsey cows like those of the Hoard’s Dairyman Farm herd originated.

Dubbed “the jewel of the Channel Islands,” the isle of Sark offers views as sublime as its honorary cheese’s decadent taste and texture. (Charcuterie and a red eye to go, please?)

In the USCCC’s Havarti category, Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery’s Island Havarti snagged spot number 5 out of 17 with a score of 99.5.

Taking home the champion trophies in first, second, and third place were Arethusa Farm Dairy, The Farm at Doe Run, and Lack Country Dairy/Shuman Cheese, respectively.

The United States Championship Cheese Contest has run biennially since 1981 and will return in 2027 for more cheese-tastic contests, awards, and celebrations.

Art that’s edible

Cheese sculptures, and their creators, are cut differently.

Sarah Nep. Source: https://cheesecarver.com

Cheese is full of possibilities.

Sandwiches, salads, tacos, coffee, platters — there’s nothing curd can’t make better.

But what if cheese also served a non-edible purpose? Such as…being a piece of art?

Surprise! It already does.

The art of cheese carving goes beyond cutting a clever display for a soon-to-be devoured centerpiece. For some, it’s a genuine hobby and — even more astonishing — a career.

Take Sarah Kaufmann, “The Cheese Lady,” a (fittingly) Wisconsin native. Kaufmann began designing and carving uniquely thematic cheese sculpture designs in 1981 and went full-time with the craft in 1996. That’s 20-plus years of around-the-clock cheese artistry. Kaufmann’s for-hire services include designing and carving a sculpture and then shipping it, and sculpting designs live as part of in-store or event-related entertainment.

Kaufmann holds two Guinness World Records for largest cheese carving and travels the country to carve for corporate events, county fairs, weddings, private parties, and more.

Sarah Nep, a fine artist from Walnut Creek, California, is a professional cheese carver as well. Her projects are smaller in scope than Kaufmann’s, but they’re no less detailed. Nep stumbled upon the art form largely by accident. Her very first piece began as a favor to her husband, who volunteered her to sculpt a cow for the California Cheese and Butter Show. Already well-accustomed to the nuances of fine sculpts and molds, Nep did a spectacular job, and her (then) side-gig carving commissions began.

Nep has carved for trade shows, anniversaries, wine tastings, grand openings, and more. Her services include live carving, shipping a completed sculpture, and compiling specialty cheese platters.

Finally (but certainly not comprehensively), Pennsylvania-based food sculpture artists Jim Victor and Marie Pelton work as a team to create pieces out of cheese, butter, chocolate, or a mixture of foods. They have been commissioned to carve for state fairs, public relations events, TV shows, and more.

In their brief autobiography, Victor and Pelton write: “Food sculptures are opportunities to teach the public not only about food and where it comes from but also to demonstrate and educate people about the process of art, its role in society, the messaging it can convey.”

Both graduates from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Victor and Pelton put recyclability at the top of their food sculpture service promotion.

“Food, like other organic waste products, can be put into an anaerobic digester and turned into electricity… It’s comforting to know the food material we use for sculpting will be made into energy [after we donate it].”

Kaufmann, Nep, Victor, and Pelton are far from alone in their cheese carving occupation. Matthew Van Vorst, Nancy Baker, The Courtyard Dairy, Alberto Tomasi are just a handful of others among a growing cohort of cheese carvers. Some colleges even offer courses in it. Most professionals concede that anyone with the right tools can pick up the hobby, but isn’t there, I don’t know, just a bit of artistic skill involved?

Interested in trying out a little bit ‘o sculpting? Hungry for cheese after all this chitter chatter about it? Head over to www.hoardscreamery.com to order your favorite Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese variation. (Carve, eat, or both, we won’t tell.) s, and their creators, are cut differently.

Quiz time! Award-winning cheese edition

Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery’s ______ cheese received a Bronze award at the World Cheese Awards in Trondheim, Norway in October 2024.

A.) Sark

B.) Belaire

C.) Gouda

D.) Aged white cheddar

Scroll past the image to find the answer!

If you guessed C.) Gouda, then you’d be right! Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery’s Gouda cheese received a Bronze award at the World Cheese Awards in Trondheim, Norway in October 2024.

A local Wisconsin tradition sees new honoree

In January, the Jefferson County Fair crowned Hannah Brattlie, a longtime 4-H’er and dedicated fair participant, as Fairest of the Fair. Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery helped sponsor the event.  

The rumors are true: Our cheese played a part in naming this year’s Jefferson County Fair “Fairest of the Fair.” (And by “played a part” we mean served as finger-food-fuel for official event attendees — a role equally as important as any other.) Fair coordinator Sammy Gravey noted Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese to be “The highlight of the mingle session.” But enough about Guernsey milk turned curdy goodness.

Per a statement by the Jefferson County Fair, recipients of the Fairest of the Fair honorarium are to serve as “the official representative of the Jefferson County Fair.” They “attend numerous events throughout the year” and “work closely with Fair Park staff to promote events and foster community pride leading up to and during the Fair.”

This year’s honoree Hanna Brattlie is from Cambridge, Wisc., and currently attends the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. Brattlie started showing chickens and rabbits at the Jefferson County Fair eleven years ago and now breeds and raises her own animals – a passion exhibited in her chosen area of study: animal science.

In her acceptance speech, Brattlie said she looks forward to mentoring exhibitors in the upcoming Fair as she takes on her new role. She is already brainstorming creative ways to connect with the community in her upcoming term, such as appearing in local parades, speaking at community gatherings, and leading book readings.

“I have been involved in this Fair my whole life,” she said. “It’s awesome to be able to be the spokesperson and the face of the Jefferson County Fair.”

The judges

During her year as Fairest, Brattlie will represent the fair and its celebration of agricultural, social, and cultural achievements at related events across Jefferson County and beyond.

Brattlie is anteceded by Amanda Georgson – Fairest of 2004; Becky Mehringer – Fairest of 2006; Libby Hafften – Fairest of 2019; Maddi Besch – Fairest of 2022; and Danielle Chwala – Fairest of 2023 & 2024.

To learn more about Brattlie and her role, visit http://www.jcfairpark.com/.

The oldest cheese in the world (that we know of)

At a burial ground in northwest China, mummies – and their cheese adornments – tell all.

A study published in the scientific journal Cell last fall reported Chinese Academy of Sciences geneticist Qiaomei Fu and her team of researchers have sequenced bacterial DNA from chunks of ancient cheese.

How ancient, you ask? Try upwards of 3,000 years.

It all started at the dawn of time, when — wait, let’s fast forward: It all started in the early 2000s, when a group of scientists from the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Xinjiang, China discovered ancient mummies in a cemetery belonging to the Bronze Age Xiaohe population — a people whose genetic analysis shows origins in East Asia and West Eurasia.

The site is the largest of such in the world to date, with 330 tombs. Upon excavation, the archeologists found a peculiar white substance scattered around the heads and necks of some of the mummies. They determined it to be a kind of fermented cheese and sought to extract and analyze its DNA. Now, almost 20 years later and the initial survey of the cheese complete, the team’s groundbreaking research is at our fingertips.

“Due to the abundance of proteins from ruminant milk, lactic acid bacteria, and yeast in the samples, these dairy remains have been identified as kefir cheese,” the study reads.

Kefir is “a traditional beverage produced by fermenting milk using kefir grains.” Kefir cheese is drained kefir milk.

The research suggests that this Bronze Age kefir cheese was made using both cow and goat milk. However, “the bovine and caprine milk seem to have been used in different batches rather than mixed like the mixed milk that is frequently used in Greek and Middle Eastern cheeses.”

Fu and her team go on: “The history of fermented dairy is largely lost…as both artifacts and molecular evidence of ancient, fermented dairy are extremely scarce. Little is known [in particular] about the origin of the techniques and the history of [animal husbandry and dairying] in East Asia. With the great privilege of accessing several Bronze Age cheese samples from the Xiaohe cemetery, we were able to interrogate the DNA information of a [lactic acid bacteria] species that was regularly propagated and consumed by humans over thousands of years.”

A complex read for the non-scientist, Fu and her team’s report ultimately lay claim to one thing: that of tying a fermented food known to us as kefir to a kefir-sister cheese made by a civilization from almost 3,500 years ago. (The Xiahoe laid it to rest with their mummified departed, no less!) How much more of a history with humanity can dairy hope to have?

Read the full study here.

Japan trade show to host Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese

February: A time of hearts and date nights and elongating days and sniffs of spring and — international trade shows?

That’s right. Next month, Japan’s 59th Super Market Trade Show takes the love-month stage from February 12 to 14, existing as perhaps the most on-brand Valentine’s Day celebration a dairyman or cheesemaker could partake in.

Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery has been personally invited to be featured at the show; representatives will host an expo booth full of information about our Guernsey milk cheese.

The event, held in a convention center just outside of Tokyo, is put on by the National Supermarket Association of Japan, a retail-focused organization that conducts surveys, research, educational training, publications, and exhibitions, all concerning supermarkets.

According to the official Supermarket Trade Show website, it is meant to be a “business meeting for the retail industry” that “provides the latest information on supermarkets and the distribution industry.”

The gathering offers “the latest information on the food distribution industry, focusing on supermarkets. It gives you an opportunity to meet leaders from the retail, wholesale, and food service industry, and to find new partnerships, new networks, and new trends for helping your business.”

This year, more than 2,195 companies are projected to attend the show, exhibiting 3,521 booths. Of those, 105 are from overseas (Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery included), representing 140 booths overall.  

A research project conducted by the National Supermarket Association of Japan called “Food Trend Zone” will showcase the new research categories "Time efficiency × Food" and "Protein × Food.” These topics (and the already established “Frozen x Food” and “Inbound x Food”) are meant to provide visitors with products and information on consumer trends and potential food service solutions.

For example, the “Time efficiency x Food” exhibition will cite “the demand for simplicity and shortened cooking times,” leading to the need for meal kits and microwavable products. The zone will offer potential products, information, technologies, and services that will lead to time-efficient cooking and meal consumption.

If you’re a cheese lover like Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery (and, assumedly, given our invitation, Japan), there truly is no better place to venture than a supermarket trade show in the middle of February.  

Follow along with pre- and post-show happenings here in Creamery Notes and at www.hoardscreamery.com and https://www.smts.jp/en/.

Quiz time! Brucellosis-free edition

Wisconsin was the first major livestock state in the nation to be declared free of brucellosis in 1956, a cattle disease that is known as ___ when it is passed to humans.

A) Undulant Fever

B) Bruce Disease

C) Cattle Fever

D) Terrible Time

Scroll past the image to find the answer!

If you said A) Undulant Fever, then you’re correct! Undulant Fever is what brucellosis is known as when it is passed to humans. (For reference: https://hoards.com/article-125-Hoards-Dairyman-WD-Knox.html)

On National Cheese Lover’s Day, it’s socially acceptable to wipe clean the fondue tray (and any day after that – we won’t judge!)

“National [fill-in-the-blank] Day”s just keep getting more and more superb — if you’re timely enough to stumble upon their hashtag,
that is…

On Monday, the country recognized… National Cheese Lover’s Day! (Word has it Monday also saw an inauguration, a Civil Rights activist holiday, and my friend’s first day at a new job — but all of these probably also involved cheese consumption, right?)

In all seriousness, there’s a lot going on this month. If you find yourself overwhelmed, reeling like a broken clock’s ailing tick-tock, rest assured, there is hope: your cheese drawer says so.

In both their 2024 and 2025 cheese trend reports, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin defined food as “the glue that binds relationships.”

Cheese has, the year’s research revealed, “the power to bring people closer together, whether that’s creating moments for loved ones, gathering for a special occasion, or falling in love over a shared appreciation of cheese.”

Now, we all know cheese can’t actually put out wildfires or cross political quarries or grant my friend the very best workforce experience of his life, but it’s true that cheese is a uniquely social food, derivative of the kind of connection and variety we seek out in our everyday lives.

Not only is cheese highly cultural — with many countries, and even states, producing numerous local and national varieties of their own — but it is also a go-to dairy food for people who have otherwise had to avoid dairy; it’s an ode to humanity’s continuous ingenuity (though discovered by accident!); it’s consumed by 96% of Americans, therefore maybe the safest of all conversation starters; and it has historically served as the centerpiece for social gatherings, events, and honorariums (particularly in Europe and the U.S.), making it a literal point of connection across socioeconomic groups.

All of this and, well, cheese’s tastiness, we say merits a National Cheese Lover’s Day nod, indeed.

If you’re late to the celebration, no sweat: Our Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese selection has you covered.

St. Saviour’s reach is that of a saint’s, indeed

St. Saviour

If you’ve been around the Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese block enough times, you’ve probably heard of our award-winning camembert-style St. Saviour. But do you know of all the ways it’s been celebrated near and far?

Its flavor not only lives up to the well-established hype; it has managed to draw attention to itself and its makers from media outlets, state universities, and contest judges alike. For example:  

On September 28, Madison, Wis.’s annual Art of Cheese Festival featured St. Saviour as the second course of the Wisconsin cheese brunch. Chef Tory Miller’s original recipe was “baked bao with smoked ham, Ela Orchard apple chutney, pepita chutney, and Greek yogurt.” Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery’s creamery director Ricardo Gutierrez attended the event to represent W.D. Hoard and Sons Co.

PBS covered Hoard’s Dairyman Farm and Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery on its Wisconsin Foodie series hosted by Luke Zahm. The segment highlighted a simple yet delicious baked St. Saviour made by Genesee Depot, Wis.,’s Union House executive chef Dan Harrell.  

St. Saviour has also received recognition at numerous worldwide cheese awards, including the International Cheese and Dairy Awards, the World Cheese Awards, the Green County Fair cheese contest, and more.

The cheese has also been used in state- and nationwide home-cooked recipes, championed by the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and celebrated by independent restaurants and businesses.

What makes this small wheel of curd stand out the way it does? Even more pointedly: is it even that good? There’s only one way to find out: Try it for yourself.

Of course, St. Saviour isn’t the only guest at our pure Guernsey-milk cheese table. Our Belaire, Sark, Governor’s Select, and Gouda each carry their own weight. When it comes to any product made by Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese makers, you can’t go wrong.