Brian Futhey of Stone Meadow Farm in Woodward, Pennsylvania, still remembers his âaha moment.â It was when he realized that the type of grassfed milk that his cows were producing on his 118-acre farm was also ideal for making artisan, raw milk cheese.
âI was attending a Pasa (Sustainable Agriculture) conference around 2004 and a lightbulb went off in my head. My milk was special in the sense that it was all grass, I didnât feed any grain,â Futhey said. âAnd it was also seasonal, so by making cheese, it gave me an avenue to have a year-round income without relying on a milk check. So that was the impetus that got me started in cheesemaking. . Itâs value-added, so you get a better return on the milk that you produce.â