Unique cheese operation born in Sullivan

By DAVID HULSE

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — Rick Bishop said necessity gave birth to invention in a combined effort to create a modular cheese-making factory that has brought new economic opportunities for local dairy farmers and sparked the interest of dairy concerns around the region.

Bishop, the agricultural economic development specialist with the Sullivan County Planning Department, was talking about a barn-red, 12-by-36-foot trailer, packed with custom-made equipment for the production of farm-made cheese.

“We pretty much built it ourselves,” Bishop said, because this was not a trailer to be selected from a catalog and ordered.

The need and the idea arose as Bishop was trying to talk county dairy farmers into producing cheese as a value-added product that could act as a safeguard against the volatile prices offered for bulk milk.

“You figure out the regulations and park it next to my barn and I’ll make cheese,” Callicoon Center dairy farmer Evelyn Weismann told him.

And so the “cheesemobile” concept was born.

Bishop found $29,860 to match a $79,000 federal grant from the Sustainable Agricultural Resources Education (SARE) program at the University of Vermont, and construction was underway.

The empty trailer was purchased, and Bishop, Weismann, and dairyman Tim Tonjes began putting it together. Local businesses, including A. Alport Plumbing in South Fallsburg and Schmidt’s Wholesaling in Monticello, provided parts and expertise for heating, air-filtration and refrigeration.

“The pasteurization tank was really custom work, as the circular design used for bulk milk was not applicable in the trailer,” Tonjes said.

Farmers Tim and Mary Tonjes first took a conservative attitude toward the project, which they viewed as a laboratory experiment, but after a year, “we’re pretty much convinced that it’s going to work,” Tim said.

The would-be cheese makers travelled to Great Britain to find the expertise to actually make cheese. “New York was the real home of cheese making in America, but the expertise is gone. We had to start from scratch,” Tonjes said.

The Tonjeses have been making and selling ricotta, mozzarella and flavored yogurt products at farm markets. Tonjes’ cheeses are also sold at The Good Earth and Peck’s Market in Jeffersonville.

Other aged cheeses, including a cheddar-styled “Rambler” and milder “Cow Hill” variety, are still being prepared for the county’s summer farm markets.

Raw milk from the dairy is pumped directly into the cheesemobile, which is currently using about 1,600 pounds of milk to produce up to 160 pounds of cheese a week. Using the warm milk saves reheating for pasteurization, which breaks up fats in the milk. “The fewer times you heat it, the better the cheese,” Mary Tonjes said.

The cheesemobile will soon be moved to another farm and Tim Tonjes said he plans to add a permanent version of the facility to his farm.

He’s working on the business and marketing plan for it. “It takes a lot of time and work. It’s another whole business enterprise. You just can’t walk into it,” he added.

The Tonjes’ success has helped spur the program, which will soon be adding another trailer and new equipment for production of other kinds of dairy products. Ice cream is being considered, Bishop said.

Dairy interests, farmers, counties and other state agencies have made inquiries about the cheesemobile, Bishop said. “We’ve gotten a Service Mark [similar to a patent] for the design,” he added.

Last month, the Sullivan County Legislature created a local development corporation to handle the assets of the program.