armstead Milk Processing, an April short course conducted in the College’s Department of Food Science, attracted 27 participants. The two-day workshop was directed at North Carolinians interested in farmstead milk production and processing, to teach them the basic concepts of business set-up, sanitation and milk quality.

The training and technical assistance sessions were funded in part by a grant from Golden LEAF as a means of developing value-added products and income for the state’s small cow dairies and dairy goat farmers.

“Farmstead” cheese products are those made on a producer’s own farm from milk produced on that farm.
Farmstead cheese making can be an option for farmers to add value to their dairy operations and as an alternative commodity in tobacco-growing counties.

Dr. MaryAnne Drake, associate professor of food science, co-organized and conducted the course with Gary Cartwright, Food Science Department pilot plant coordinator, with instructors from both N.C. State and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

According to Drake, 100 percent of the attendees were from North Carolina, with 22 counties represented — 15 of which are counties classified as “economically distressed and tobacco-dependent.”


— Terri Leith