Maine-made cheese is having a moment. The Maine cheese industry is one of the fastest growing in the country and produces award-winning varieties. While we don’t make near as much as cheese-loving states like Wisconsin and Vermont, Maine has 73 licensed cheese makers today, up from ten a decade ago. Thanks to like prominence of local cheese at retailers like the Portland Farmers’ Market, K. Horton’s Specialty Foods, Rosemont Market, and Whole Foods, curd-loving customers are familiar with local creameries and cheese styles like never before.
Whether it ends up buttery, crumbly, or tangy, all cheese starts out as milk. Maine Cheese Guild President Eric Rector attributes the success of the cheese industry to its high-quality founding ingredient. “Maine produces some of the best milk in the world, in my opinion,” Rector says. Unfortunately, the story of the Maine dairy industry isn’t as rosy as that of cheese. Today, Maine has just under 300 dairy farms, down from 500 in 2000. According to production reports from the Maine Milk Commission, the state’s number of dairy farms decreases every month. Dairy farmers have a hard time making a profit off of fluid milk and are increasingly retiring or selling their cows in favor of more profitable types of farming. A convoluted pricing system created in 1935 determines dairy farmers’ profits. Large dairy farms sell their milk to processors and are paid at a rate that is determined monthly by the state. At times, these payments are not enough to cover even the cost of production.
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