Cheese Making Equipment

Lowville farm adds cheesemaking operation

LOWVILLE — A town of Lowville farmer is looking to milk extra profits through cheese curd production.

“We see a demand for it locally,” said Joseph P. Shultz, owner of Ara-Kuh Farm and Shultz Family Cheese, 7596 Number Three Road.

A member of the Lowville Producers Dairy Cooperative board of directors, Mr. Shultz said he has seen how well cheese curd sells at the cooperative’s dairy store on Utica Boulevard.

So, when he and his wife, Susan, were considering a farm-based business to supplement their 50-cow dairy operation, cheesemaking ultimately floated to the top of their list.

The couple last winter participated in cheesemaking classes offered through Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, then visited various cheese rooms throughout the state. They also constructed a cheese building next to their barn and ordered equipment in anticipation of an early summer startup.

However, the equipment didn’t arrive until July, and some thermometers had to be returned because they measured in Celsius rather than Fahrenheit.

“There’s been some bumps, but we’ve met a lot of good people and learned a lot,” Mr. Shultz said.

For the past few weeks, the Shultz family has been converting the roughly 170 to 180 gallons of milk from its Wednesday morning milking into cheese. Each gallon of milk equates to roughly one pound of cheese, Mr. Shultz said.

The process of converting the milk to cheese takes most of the morning and afternoon to complete, although much of the time is spent waiting for the milk to heat and for the whey to slowly drain out.

A neighboring Amish farmer uses the whey for livestock feed.

Mr. Shultz said officials from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets were helpful in providing required specifications for their cheese building and equipment.

The Shultzes sell bags of regular cheese curd and three flavored varieties: jalapeno, roasted garlic and Italian. They also press some of the curd into loaf pans and sell it as brick cheese.

Micro Dairy Equipment & Supplies Now Available for Online Purchase

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