We had a terrific meeting in Harrison at Little Falls Farm, a pretty unique place that produces 100% organic cheese by producing and using their own home-grown rennet.
Mark and Kevin from Pineland Farm gave a demonstration of titration (acid meter) and calibration of a pH meter. They will also bring some quality control tests they run, as well as some bacteria/coliform plates of raw milk.
Our April 2011 meeting was hosted by Anne Bossi and Bob Bowen of Sunset Acres Creamery in Brooksville. We had a tour of their *working* cheese room (curds scooped and draining as we looked in), learned about how they try to control humidity in their cheese caves, and saw how they heat their water so efficiently that they no longer need solar hot water panels! Plus lots of discussion on a variety of topics, among them them the pending legislation around dairy and raw milk sales, hooking up milk producers with cheese makers, hooking up retailers with cheese producers, and hooking up young cheesemakers with land and facilities to make more Maine cheese, which the market is demanding…
The Knowledge Transfer Alliance, an offshoot of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will put on a free day of business management workshops in Belfast at the Hutchinson Center.
Topics for this day of workshops devoted to helping Maine agricultural businesses grow include:
–Quickbooks Introduction, and Specific Topics
–Building Your Budget and Record Keeping in Excel
–Setting Your Vision and Sticking To It
–Marketing Tips, including Using Internet Marketing and Social Networking
Download a PDF Document here with the full schedule of workshops.