A Slice Apart
	Showing Their LifeSmarts
	Editorial
	Wisconsin Favorites Newcomers in “The Norwegian Valley”

 

A Slice Apart
Cheese Mastery Fills New Niche In Old Market

   A Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) campaign proclaims that ‘pride’ is the secret ingredient in Wisconsin cheese. While pride may be in the mix, so are a host of other ingredients and innovations boosting the nation’s cheese consumption, and along with it, demand for the state’s cheeses.

   Foam cheese hats aside, Wisconsin is respected worldwide for its cheese making and has long taken pride in being an industry leader in the cheese business. In fact, Wisconsin won 28 total awards at the 2004 World Cheese Contest, more than double any other sate—or nation. But these days, that cheese mastery is taking new shape as increasing numbers of Wisconsin cheese makers enter the world of specialty and artisan cheeses.

   Although there is no standard definition for “specialty cheese,” the term is generally used to describe a value-added product that has one or more unique qualities, limited distribution, quality-driven production techniques, and a specific or unusual application. Some popular varieties are Feta, Blue, super-aged Parmesan, aged Provolone, Asiago, Gouda, Fontina, Havarti, and Hispanic types. Within specialty cheeses are several types, including artisan (handcrafted), farmstead (cheeses that are made on the same farm where the cows are milked), and pasture-grazed (cheese from milk of cows that seasonally feed on pasture grasses, alfalfa, and clover).

Innovations, New Markets

    According to WMMB, increased consumer demand for big flavor, desire for foods that can be identified by origin and maker, and the growth of organic food all contribute to a growing specialty cheese market.

   Cheese making that has focused on more traditional, commodity markets will continue to be a mammoth part of the state’s industry. It’s that 160-year reputation for quality and dedication to the craft that has given rise to the popularity and variety of artisan and farmstead dairy products being made here. Today, 75 of Wisconsin’s 116 cheese plants produce at least one type of specialty cheese.

   As the largest segment of Wisconsin’s ag economy, dairy producers and processors wanting to enter the specialty and artisan cheese market are not being ignored. Since its start-up in April 2004, the Dairy Business Innovation Center (DBIC) has provided technical and marketing assistance to 87 dairy businesses hoping to start or expand a dairy plant, launch a new product, or enter a new market.

   "In our planning for our first year, we never anticipated the magnitude of responses we would receive from entrepreneurs seeking to grow artisan and specialty dairy businesses," said Dan Carter, DBIC manager. "The response is a true testament to our Wisconsin dairy producers—they are qualified and eager to meet the demands of the marketplace and to grow their farm businesses and dairy plants."

   Led by a stakeholder board, the DBIC provides technical assistance to new and emerging dairy businesses, including farmstead and artisan dairies as well as small, medium, and large dairy processors. The DBIC has Senator Herb Kohl and Representative Dave Obey to thank for helping it gain $2 million in federal funding. The DBIC is also supported by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).

   "We respond to each business and market need and then help the client develop and carry out a springboard of actions to succeed," Carter said. "Our mission is to act as a one-stop shop for an entrepreneur looking to start or expand a Wisconsin dairy business."

Venturing Forth

   One of those entrepreneurs is Alto Dairy Cooperative, headquartered in Waupun, Wisconsin. As one of the state’s largest dairy co-ops, Alto has long been known for its exceptional, award-winning cheddars and has a long-standing national reputation with cheese buyers.

   In April of this year, the member-owned cooperative announced that it had teamed up with long-time business associate Winona Foods to put its award-winning cheese under a new brand name for retail sale across the nation.

   Alto’s new “Black Creek Classic” cheese marks the cooperative’s first venture into the land of specialty and artisan cheeses. Alto’s Black Creek plant will be putting its cheddar up against some of the most well-known specialty cheddars producers in the market, including Tillamook Cheese in Oregon and Cabot Creamery in Vermont. The move is expected to significantly increase the value of Alto’s specialty cheddar.

   In a public announcement of the new venture, Alto Dairy Cooperative President and CEO Rich Scheuerman said, “I am pleased to announce that for the first time, Alto Dairy’s award-winning cheeses will be marketed directly to consumers under a new brand: Black Creek Classic Cheeses.”

Economic Benefit, A Master’s Touch

   DATCP Secretary Rod Nilsestuen noted that innovations such as those at Alto help keep cheese plants in Wisconsin, businesses that are vital to rural economic development. Governor Jim Doyle added that expanding the dairy artisan and specialty cheese industry is a key component of his “Grow Wisconsin” economic development initiative.

   Behind Alto Dairy Cooperative’s award-winning cheddar and several other Wisconsin cheeses are “master cheesemakers.” The Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Program is the most formal, advanced training program in the country and the only master program in the United States. The program, patterned after European standards, is administered by the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research and funded by Wisconsin dairy producers through WMMB.

   It’s that sort of support and knowledge that helps the state’s cheese makers produce 450 varieties, types, and styles of cheese—more than double that of any other state—and keeps Wisconsin in the number-one spot for cheese production in the nation.

Consumers Say “Cheese”

Growing consumer appreciation of specialty cheeses and other unique dairy products are enhancing revenue for producers who bring top-quality offerings to the marketplace, points out the DBIC. “Not only do customers recognize flavor nuances and nutritional benefits, their palettes have become more discerning and discriminating. Restaurants, chefs, and even some ‘fast-food’ purveyors are reaching out to satisfy their clientele,” says Carter.

   According to WMMB, cheese—especially artisan, farmstead, ethnic, and organic types—is winning the hearts and palates of American consumers and chefs. And that’s a trend Wisconsin’s dairy industry is sure to savor.—Lori Weaver, photos and information courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

Showing Their LifeSmarts

   Having an aptitude for retaining facts and possessing poise under pressure are valuable assets to high school students as they advance through the annual LifeSmarts challenge. But teacher Tammie McCarthy thinks another quality is just as useful to teens in the annual competition that tests students’ grasp of consumer issues: common sense.

   If that’s the case, the four team members she coached for this year’s contest had plenty; her quartet bested the teams fielded by schools that were in some cases more than three times the size of Oconto High School. For their efforts, team members Brian Fields, Allison Behnke, Sarah Greuel, and Danny Karbon won this year’s state title and advanced to the national competition held in San Francisco during April.

Testing Teens

The LifeSmarts challenge, developed by the National Consumers League (NCL) and overseen in Wisconsin by UW–Milwaukee’s School of Continuing Education, is an educational game in a “college bowl” format, ultimately pitting teams of high school students against each other in formal competition. A series of quizzes tests their consumer and marketplace knowledge.

   “It starts with on-line quizzes that I have my classes on business, consumer education, and personal finance take the day before Christmas vacation,” McCarthy said. The contest keys on five areas of consumer knowledge that teens need in order to function effectively in today’s economy: health and safety, personal finance, environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities.

   She explained that the on-line quiz questions are uniform nationwide, and a number of practice tests are allowed. The NCL then grades an official test each student takes via the Internet by late January. McCarthy said she selects her team based on the highest scores from her school. Many participating teams consist of five members, though only four can compete at any one time. This year, McCarthy elected to build a team using just four students.

   Oconto High School’s scores in the individual testing were high enough to earn the team a berth as oneof six to square off in the state LifeSmarts tournament during March at UW–Milwaukee.

   “This was the sixth year in a row that we’ve been to the state competition, but it was the first time we made it to the finals,” McCarthy said.questioning, the championship.“Some years we haven’t won any of our contests,” McCarthy said.

Courses of Questions

   Each round of a typical LifeSmarts tournament consists of three different courses of questioning—initial queries put to individual team members; a battery of questions asked of each four-member panel, which can be answered by team consensus; and a “challenge round” where teams go head-to-head and answer questions only after being first to hit a buzzer. As teams advance, quizmasters repeat the questioning sequence with new sets of opponents.

   Oconto team members’ pathway to the state championship led them into two encounters with the team from Milwaukee’s Rufus King High School, the defendingstate—and national—champions. McCarthy said though both Oconto and King had only one returning team member each from last year, King’s winning tradition was impressive: state LifeSmarts champions in four of the past six years. The Oconto team outscored King in the first round and then did so again in their seventh round of questioning, the championship.“Some years we haven’t won any of our contests,” McCarthy said. “It depends on the individuals. All of them are good students and they can think on their feet quickly. But it’s not always the smartest students who do the best; they also need to have a lot of common sense on these types of questions.”

   Rounding out the schools taking part in the 2005 tournament were Westfield, Winneconne, Shullsburg, and Luxemburg-Casco.

The National Mix

   In mid-April, McCarthy and her team—three seniors and a sophomore—boarded a plane to San Francisco to face other states’ LifeSmarts titleholders. In all, 32 states participated in the competition, held at a large hotel in theBay City.

   Thanks in a large part to fundraising efforts of Pat Mapp, coordinator of the Wisconsin LifeSmarts program at UW–Milwaukee, the team representing the state at the national level has its expenses paid. Among groups contributing to the program are the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives, which also supplies the quizmaster for the state tournament: CEO Bill Oemichen, previously Wisconsin’s top consumer-protection official. In addition, Oconto Electric Cooperative, whose service territory surrounds the Oconto community, helped with some of this year’s expenses for its high-achieving local team.

   “What an experience,” McCarthy exclaimed. “They met and interacted with kids from all over the country.”

   The team quickly found the competition to have a more intense flavor than what they had been used to, however. “This was a whole different level than Milwaukee,” McCarthy said, explaining the questioning got significantly harder as the three-day national LifeSmarts matches progressed.

   “We weren’t prepared for how fast the challenge round would be,” she continued. “Sometimes the quizmaster would get to utter only the first four or five words of a question and the opposing team would ring in with an answer.”

   After one of the matches, McCarthy told her students she was confident they knew answers to most of the questions, even though the answers weren’t forthcoming. She said team captain Brian responded, “Oh, Mrs. McCarthy, it’s so different when you’re up on the stage and everybody’s looking at you.”

   Despite admitting to having a bit of stage fright, the team from Oconto played a tough team from Tennessee to a close 105–115 decision. “Just one question, either way, was the difference,” said McCarthy. The team next ran up against proficient teams from Texas and Florida, effectively taking away Wisconsin’s chances to advance. A team from Maryland, made up of home-schooled students, won the tournament.

   “The Oconto students were truly good sports and we all agreed that we’ve learned a lot and the experience was unforgettable,” coordinator Pat Mapp stated. She said the high point for her was watching the teens from Wisconsin interact with their counterparts from across the country.

   “They were very engaged; they showed they had both intellectual and social skills,” Mapp continued.“They really did us proud.”—Perry Baird

Editorial
by Perry Baird

Electric co-op spokespersons meet with Chad Metzler and Heather White (far right in top photo) from the offices of Senators Kohl and Feingold and with Dan Roehl of Rep. Mark Green’s office.

Cheese and Thank-you

   June is Dairy Month and electric cooperatives supply power to a substantial number of Wisconsin dairy farms and creameries. So, this month we feature a cover story on the burgeoning specialty-cheese industry, dairy recipes, and an events calendar peppered with local festivities for Dairy Month.

   Our June edition also routinely covers a gathering where several thousand electric co-op leaders visit U.S. House and Senate offices. As our story on page 8 notes, more than 60 cooperators from Wisconsin participated in this year’s mission during early May, bringing the electric co-op perspective on pending legislation to lawmakers and their staffs.

  As an exclamation point to the visits, the Wisconsin group hosts a reception for members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, with a prime focus on inviting and getting to know staff members from each of the 10 congressional offices.

Specialists

   We’ve learned a couple of things in organizing these receptions during the past 25 years. First, not that many lobbying groups strive to include all congressional staff members in their invitations; many lobbyists are far more interested in hobnobbing only with the elected officials. Second, catering outfits in Washington, D.C., don’t really know cheese.

   Legislative staff members, we’ve found, are versed in the details of pending bills and regulations. They specialize in the issue areas, closely monitoring amendments, committee actions, and constituent preferences, and they make recommendations to their bosses on what stances or actions make the most sense—practically and politically. Lawmakers rely on their staffs’ expertise.

   Congressional staff members are also mobile, we’ve noticed. With time and experience, entry-level correspondents and clerical employees have a way of working their way into legislative-analyst posts. Today’s receptionist may, somewhere down the road, become the staff member with responsibility for an issue area important to us.

Staff Connections

   This past May, for the first time on 20 years, the U.S. Senate was out of session when co-op leaders visited. The senators were back in Wisconsin, so we met with their staff. And in three of the eight House offices of our state’s congressional delegation, we also talked with staff exclusively. We saw the individuals who handled energy and appropriations matters, and we came away knowing our arguments were heard and understood.

   We think highly of congressional staff for the vital role they play in the legislative process, and one way we try to show appreciation is by hosting a reception and making them all feel welcome and valued. Wisconsin cheese plays its part.

   Elected lawmakers get back to Wisconsin frequently enough to get their “fix” of quality cheese; their D.C. staffs may not. So, to ensure there’s the real article at the reception, we have Alto Dairy Co-op of Waupun (coincidentally featured in our cover story this month) ship a variety of its cheese to our Capitol Hill caterer.

   You might say it’s something special from Wisconsin for some people who are special to Wisconsin—and to the electric cooperatives here.

Newcomers in “The Norwegian Valley”

   When many of Wisconsin’s early Norwegian settlers arrived in the mid-1800s, they homesteaded near Westby, on the Coon Prairie, and later in the Coon Valley—both so-named because of the many native raccoons. These animals were unfamiliar to the Norwegians, who called the animal “vaskebjørn” or “washing bear.” The Norwegians found Coon Prairie and Coon Valley very much like their native valleys of Gubrandsdal and Telemark, so they settled there in small family farms similar to those they had left in Norway. Today, of course, Norwegians make up a significant part of Wisconsin’s diverse cultural heritge.

   Fortunately, we have the opportunity to learn about the lives and customs of these new immigrants at Norskedalen (“The Norwegian Valley”), near the town of Coon Valley. There, we can marvel at intricate Norse crafts and learn from other exhibits in the Thrune Visitors’ Center, utilize the extensive library, or hike the beautiful wooded countryside that beckoned to the early Norwegian settlers at the Helga Gundersen Arboretum and Nature Trails. Norskedalen is open year-’round (closed on Sundays from November through mid-April).

   May through October, visitors to Norskedalen can take guided tours through the adjacent Bekkum Pioneer Homestead, where typical Norwegian log farm buildings have been relocated from nearby farms and restored to their turn-of-the-century condition. Around the “tuna,” or courtyard, are a summer kitchen, springhouse, corncrib, granary, outhouse, chicken coop, machine shed, stable, barn, storage shed, and blacksmith shop. The centerpiece of the Bekkum Homestead is the typical two-story house, originally built in nearby Timber Coulee by Paul Engum and his son-in-law, Martinus Haugen. The smaller, furnished portion of the house was constructed in 1867, while the larger part was finished in 1890.

   In 1983, Norskedalen was given a separate 43-acre property, the Skumsrud Heritage Farm. This property is highlighted a log house, built by Nels Skumsrud in 1853 and considered to be the oldest surviving house in the area. The property includes 11 restored pioneer log buildings located in a picturesque valley among croplands and forested hills. The Skumsrud Heritage Farm, open daily from June 1 through August 31, is run as an open-air museum and cultural center for summer classes and events.

   Special Norskedalen events this summer are kicked off on June 18 and 19 with the 22nd Annual Midsummer Fest, including food, music, pioneer baking, craft demos, wagon rides, kids’ games, nature hikes, and a buckskinners’ encampment. On August 28, enjoy the Skumsrud Heritage Farm Ice Cream Social. Back at Norskedalen, the autumn brings the September 24 Old-Fashioned Threshing Bee, the October 8–9 Civil War Heritage Weekend, and the October 27–28 haunted Halloween hike, fondly called “Ghoulees in the Coulees.” Norskedalen also sponsors many classes, hikes, and special programs for school classes.—Linda Hilton

Norskedalen’s visitors’ center, arboretum, nature trails, and the Bekkum Pioneer Homestead are located on La Crosse County Road PI three miles north of Coon Valley or three miles south of Hwy. 33. Buses should approach from the south. The Skumsrud Farm is located one-half mile west of Coon Valley on Hwy. 14/61. For hours and other information, visit www.norskedalen.org or call 608/452-3424.