Starting in the UK, First Milk has decided to stop making cheese at its Rothesay creamery on the Isle of Bute as milk production on the island fell to a level that meant it was no longer economical to keep the plant open.
First Milk has now proposed to ship the milk from the 14 dairy farmers on the Isle of Bute to the mainland. It has also entered a formal consultation process with the 19 employees at the Rothesay creamery.
In other cheese news, Foremost Farms on the other side of the Atlantic is planning to double mozzarella production at a Wisconsin cheese plant after being awarded a $3.1m state grant.
Currently, the co-op, which employs 1,000 people and specializes in cheese, whey ingredients, butter, and bulk fluid milk, produces 65 million pounds of mozzarella cheese annually at the plant in Appleton, Wisconsin.
It now plans to more than double that production figure to 130 million pounds, and hire 35 more workers to add to the existing workforce of 91 people.
Dave Fuhrmann, president of Foremost Farms, said: “The combination of a strong demand for mozzarella cheese and the nearby availability of a growing milk supply among Foremost Farms members in eastern Wisconsin drove the decision to reinvest in the Appleton facility.”
To help with that effort the company has received a Special Agricultural Facilities Grant of $3.1m from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.