WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |Yellowstone Cheese
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With the increased demand for artisan and farmstead cheese, Jeremy and Heidi Kenealy of Cadott came up with a plan to use the milk from their 75 cows to create their own cheese.
"It was kind of either that or we weren't going to farm anymore. Because to stay farming we needed to find a way to control the market, and so we thought well, if we make our own cheese. So we started researching, and we visited some plants in Wisconsin, and then I guess...this was born," said Yellowstone Cheese co-owner Heidi Kenealy.
The idea was for Jeremy to run the farm and milk the cows, Heidi would run the store, but who would make the cheese?
"The really neat thing is our cheese maker; his daughter was babysitting for us and we were talking about all this and she said, 'Well my dad is a cheese maker', and we were like, 'What?!', and so we didn't even know her dad, never met him, and he came out and then we all started talking and it just started going from there," said Kenealy.
Sometimes things just fall into place! With cheese maker Dave Anderson on board creating a line of classics including Colby and Monterey Jack, while also crafting some uniquely flavored cheeses, products are flying off the shelves.
"I love doing it; I mean it's an art. It's hard work, but uh when you get the final pay is when you get all the customers in and they tell you how good your cheese is," said Yellowstone Cheese cheese maker Dave Anderson.
The factory and store are situated on the edge of the family's farm. Having farm fresh milk is part of what makes Yellowstone Cheese so good.
"We just made cheese this morning here. And I think my husband hauled the milk about five in the morning and um our cheese maker just got done making cheese curds right now," said Kenealy.
And teaching future generations how food goes from the farm to the store is part of the goal. With a window for viewing, youngsters on a field trip can see how milk is made into cheese.
Heidi Kenealy, Yellowstone Cheese Co-owner: "I think it's really good for these young kids to be able to come here and see that wow there's the farm and that's where it was, and today it's cheese!"
Yellowstone Cheese makes more than 50 different varieties of cheese, from a super hot "nitro" Habanero cheese, to their signature cheese known as Yellowstone Crunch which includes chocolate, caramel and walnuts and tastes like a candy bar!
