Category Archives: News

Help Fuzzy Udder Creamery’s make their big move!

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Help Fuzzy Udder Creamery get ready to make cheese at their new home in Whitefield!

Check out Fuzzy Udder’s IndieGogo Campaign

Fuzzy Udder Cheese!

In 2011, I started my own business, Fuzzy Udder Creamery with my two favorites: fresh hand-stretched mozzarella made from buttery jersey cow milk and sheep’s milk yogurt. If you haven’t had sheep’s milk yogurt, you have no idea what you are missing! I built a cheeseroom in Unity Maine in 2012 and had two successful seasons making all kinds of cheeses from both sheep and cow’s milk, including: fresh mozzarella, sheep’s milk yogurt, fresh sheep cheese, brie, ashed-layered soft-ripened cheese, washed rinds, gouda, swiss, tomme and baby provolone. I have also spent the last few years building up a small herd of well-cared for and very happy sheep and goats.

This summer, I had a severe allergic reaction to the house I lived in a the farm in Unity where I had built my creamery, so I had to find a new home for myself, my creamery and my animals before the winter. Luckily through the generous support of so many people in our farming community here in Maine, including Slow Money Maine and Maine Farmland Trust, I was able to purchase an old farmhouse with a barn and a creamery here in Whitefield Maine, the former home of Townhouse Creamery.

Now that I have moved, I need help getting my new creamery up and running. I am looking to raise enough funds to install my cheesemaking equipment in my new cheeseroom, build a walk-in cooler to age my cheese and get a milking parlor set up to milk my sheep and goats this spring.

With your help, I can start my 3rd season as Fuzzy Udder Creamery out right!

I am looking to raise $10,000 from this campaign so I can start making cheese again. With these funds, I will be hiring a plumber, an electrician, and several builders to get my cheeseroom and milking parlor ready for licensing.

Once I start making cheese again, I will host an open house and creamery/farm tour for those who contributed $25 or more. I will be serving a feast of local food, featuring all of Fuzzy Udder’s wide variety of cheeses. In addition, anyone who donates $50 or more will receive a cheesy gift in the mail!

Please help me publicize this campaign by telling all of your friends.

Thanks for reading about me and for supporting small farmers in Maine! To find out more about Fuzzy Udder Creamery, please visit my website: http://www.fuzzyudder.com

Maine’s Ag Community and the Affordable Care Act

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Do you need affordable health insurance? Free, in-person help is available! The Maine Migrant Health Program is a non-profit organization with over 20 years of experience providing health care to Maine’s migrant and seasonal farmworkers. If you own your own farm, need coverage for you and your family, are an employee who is looking for coverage, or a member of the general public, we are here to help members of Maine’s agricultural community get enrolled in a health insurance plan.

We have Certified Application Counselors across the state that are available to:

  • meet with you to provide information on the Affordable Care Act
  • explain the discounts that are available to low and moderate income individuals and families
  • assist you in applying for coverage
  • support you in choosing a health insurance plan.

Our services are free and available to the general public. Don’t delay! The deadline to enroll is March 31st 2014. Call today to schedule an appointment.

Please call Liz Charles at 207-441-1633 or Eduardo Cortes at 207-485-5553 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Oakhurst Sold to DFA Cooperative

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The Bennett family — for a long time the “First Family” of Maine Dairy, and well known for challenging Big Ag interests by insisting on labeling their milk as being produced without growth hormones — have now decided to transfer their company to Dairy Farmers of America, a cooperative processor. Oakhurst currently contracts with 70 Maine dairy farms for it’s milk. DFA is owned by roughly 8000 dairy farms across the continental US, and has purchased milk from many Maine dairy farms even before the Oakhurst acquisition. At this time DFA has indicated that the Oakhurst brand will be maintained in its New England sales region. The Bennett family members who have worked at the company were expected to stay on, and no employee reductions were anticipated elsewhere in the company.