Mark Crave, one of the managing partners of Crave Brothers Farm, watches some of his 2,000 cows during the milking process last week near Waterloo. The $2.2 million rotary milking parlor installed in 2021 means less labor and happier cows, which combine to produce about 45 million pounds of milk a year.
Workers at Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese near Waterloo tend a vat of fresh cheddar cheese curds last week. Milk used to make the curds comes directly from the neighboring Crave Brothers Farm and has led to award-winning cheeses for the company, which has been making cheese for 20 years and is a regular entrant in the World Championship Cheese Contest.
Brian Crave, a licensed cheesemaker at Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese near Waterloo, adds fresh mozzarella cheese curd to a machine that stretches and forms the cheese into balls that are packaged into plastic tubs for retail sale. Mozzarella has been an award-winning staple at the cheese plant for 20 years.
Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese began making cheese in 2002 as a way to add value to milk produced across the road at Crave Brothers Farm. The vast majority of the milk from the farm's 2,000 Holsteins is used at the cheese plant.
Fresh cheddar cheese curds produced by Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese near Waterloo are immediately packaged so they can be quickly placed on store counters at area retailers. The company also sells bulk cheese curds to private label companies.
Workers with Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese process fresh balls of mozzarella cheese last week. The cheese has been a consistent winner at cheese contests around the state and country and will compete for more awards this week at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Madison.
A single farmhand can milk 60 cows in 10 minutes at Crave Brothers Farm, thanks to a largely automated, rotary milking parlor that uses robots and machines that decouple from the cow when it senses a cow is done milking.
Workers at Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese near Waterloo tend a vat of fresh cheddar cheese curds last week. Milk used to make the curds comes directly from the neighboring Crave Brothers Farm and has led to award-winning cheeses for the company, which has been making cheese for 20 years and is a regular entrant in the World Championship Cheese Contest.
A single farmhand can milk 60 cows in 10 minutes at Crave Brothers Farm, thanks to a largely automated, rotary milking parlor that uses robots and machines that decouple from the cow when it senses a cow is done milking.
Mark Crave, one of the managing partners of Crave Brothers Farm, watches some of his 2,000 cows during the milking process last week near Waterloo. The $2.2 million rotary milking parlor installed in 2021 means less labor and happier cows, which combine to produce about 45 million pounds of milk a year.
Fresh cheddar cheese curds produced by Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese near Waterloo are immediately packaged so they can be quickly placed on store counters at area retailers. The company also sells bulk cheese curds to private label companies.
Brian Crave, a licensed cheesemaker at Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese near Waterloo, adds fresh mozzarella cheese curd to a machine that stretches and forms the cheese into balls that are packaged into plastic tubs for retail sale. Mozzarella has been an award-winning staple at the cheese plant for 20 years.
Workers with Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese process fresh balls of mozzarella cheese last week. The cheese has been a consistent winner at cheese contests around the state and country and will compete for more awards this week at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Madison.
Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese began making cheese in 2002 as a way to add value to milk produced across the road at Crave Brothers Farm. The vast majority of the milk from the farm's 2,000 Holsteins is used at the cheese plant.
