Wisconsin's cheese producers are poised to profit — perhaps mightily — from a feud that has buckled the knees of California's dysfunctional dairy industry.
California cheesemakers have prospered for decades because the price of milk used to make cheese has been set lower than what competitors from other states, including Wisconsin, pay. Now, California's financially strapped dairy farmers are saying their future depends on whether their state's cheese producers can be forced to pay the same price as everybody else.
If California cheesemakers are forced onto a level playing field, sales of Wisconsin cheese — estimated at about $5 billion — could increase by $200 million, according to a top dairy industry executive from Wisconsin.
"It could be very significant," said David Fuhrmann, chief executive officer and president of Foremost Farms, a Baraboo-based company that is Wisconsin's No. 1 cheese producer. Foremost makes cheese and other dairy products for sale worldwide.
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