The Oregon State Fair opened last week under the theme “Too Big to Miss” and, as always, the crowds came pouring in. There is really no better place to see Oregon agriculture all together, up close and personal, than at the Oregon State Fair.

All areas of agriculture are on exhibit; the Oregon wine industry, Oregon home grown textiles, farm, garden, floral and thousands of 4-H exhibits showcasing Oregon’s hand-crafted best. And then, of course, there’s the dairy barn. I may be a bit biased, but I think the dairy barn is one of the best exhibits at the fair. You will see proud 4-H kids and their families camped out in the barn with their dairy cows, ready to show them in the dairy livestock judging competition. It’s fun to see the kids light up when you ask about their animals. They have worked all year with their animals to get to this point.

If you are looking for Tillamook Cheese to sample while you enjoy the fair, wind your way through the cotton candy and BBQ vendors to the Jackman-Long Building to find volunteers at the Tillamook County booth handing out samples of award-winning Tillamook Cheese. In an effort to be “Too Big to Miss”, we brought along some oversized Cheddar Cheese and an Oregon Strawberry Ice Cream carton.

So stop by, say hello at the booth, and learn about all the cool things to do next time you visit the Cheese Factory.

By Heidi

Opening Day at the Tillamook County Fair

In 2010, the town of Tillamook, Oregon was ranked one of the top 10 Places for a Blue Ribbon County Fair by USA Today. This year is no exception. The Tillamook County Fair was hopping on opening day. Members of local 4-H clubs and their leaders worked alongside Tillamook employees scooping nearly 1000 delicious Tillamook ice cream cones for fairgoers. That’s a lot of ice cream! Though there was no clear winner when it came to crowd pleasers, Grandma’s Cake Batter, Cookie Dough, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Coffee Almond Fudge competed fiercely at the top.

This is the second year Tillamook has partnered with the 4-H program to scoop ice cream at the booth and, in return, 4-H receives the proceeds from the sales to fund individual programs and provide scholarships. Last year, we raised $11,300 at the booth and this year we are hoping to do even better. So come on out and visit us at the fair through August 13th. After you have a scoop of ice cream, go check out the beauties in the dairy barn. It’s their hard work that goes into making creamy Tillamook ice cream.

By Heidi

To kick-off National Dairy Month, I thought it appropriate to talk a little bit about milk quality. After all, that’s how our delicious dairy products begin — with high quality milk. It doesn’t come by accident; milk of the highest quality comes from the healthiest of cows who are cared for by the best of people. Particularly when it comes to our aged cheddar cheeses, we believe our ability to develop the full cheddar notes and perfect texture can specifically be related to fresh, high quality milk.

I thought it would be fun to share a video I took early one morning on a cool spring day of cows as they walk in from the field to their morning milking. I also feel compelled to say that it was the first time I used my handy dandy little flip video camera, so sorry about the poor filming (I’m getting much better now).

The cows in the video are Holsteins. In the Tillamook Valley, about 60 percent of the herds are Holstein with around 30 percent being Jersey cows. The rest are a combination of Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Dutch Belt. The cows on this dairy gave such high quality milk that last year their dairy was recognized as one of the top three in our cooperative for milk quality. The award is based on an analysis of specific quality indicators. It isn’t easy to achieve, and takes a lot of hard work and desire to deliver the best possible product.

By Heidi

Next Stop TV interviewing me at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Recently, Jon Olson of Next Stop TV, a travel show featuring unique destinations, visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory to film a segment for their July 30 episode! We had fun working with Jon, but I had a hard time getting him to focus… all he wanted to do was sample cheese! Go figure.

Remember to watch Next Stop on July 30! I can’t wait to see how the segment turns out.

By Heidi

Kristen Kaste, Tillamook County Dairy Princess Ambassador

Congratulations to Kristen Kaste, crowned the 2011 Tillamook County Dairy Princess Ambassador. Just what is a Dairy Princess Ambassador you ask? I like to say Dairy Princess Ambassadors are “public relations specialists” for dairy. It requires a lot of public speaking and the ability to transition from speaking to kids to speaking to state representatives, industry professionals, and at times the media.

The Oregon Dairy Princess Ambassador program is managed through the Oregon Dairy Womenwith individual counties producing their own Ambassadors who compete for the state title and scholarship dollars each January. The main role for the Ambassador is to visit elementary schools and share the positive story of dairy farming and the role dairy products play in achieving a balanced diet. It is not about the sparkly crown (though who wouldn’t want a sparkly crown?). It is about educating youth about where our food comes from and promoting dairy products and the dairy industry. In addition to public speaking, the Ambassadors have fun throughout the year participating in special events like the Milk Carton Boat Races, Ag Fest, and the Oregon State Fair. 

Congratulations, Kristen. We look forward to working with you!

By Heidi

It’s always fun working with Drew Carney and camera man Steve at KGW NewsChannel 8. I don’t know how Steve keeps up with Drew’s high energy. After this segment, Drew mentioned that his favorite Tillamook Cheese is by far our Pepper Jack. In addition to the tuna noodle casserole he boasts about in this segment, he told me he served asparagus with melted Pepper Jack on top and his kids loved it! I’ll have to give that a try.

-Heidi

By Heidi

Bohren Farm

Have you ever wondered about the big painted quilt blocks displayed on local barns and businesses in Tillamook County? They’re part of the Tillamook County Quilt Trail, the first quilt trail on the West coast.

The trail is a partnership between a coalition of local citizens and businesses to identify historic barns and other buildings in Tillamook County, enhance them with large painted wooden quilt blocks, share the history of the dairy farms and quilts through a self-guided tour for visitors, and to celebrate Tillamook’s rural heritage.

The barn pictured here is called the Bohren Farm and is displaying a pattern block called Lone Star. Here is the description posted in the Tillamook County Quilt Trail map:

Bohren Farm - One of the earliest owners was Peter Morgan. He also was part-owner of the sailing ship Morning Star, whose replica sits in front of the Cheese Factory. Tom Hyder later purchased the farm. Tom grew barley on the farm and made moonshine. In 1949, Gottlieb Bohren and his sons bought the farm from Tom Bohren, a Swiss immigrant, who had lived on the farm next door. During a remodel of the barn, hundreds of whiskey bottles were found under the floorboards of the barn. The original farm house was just north of the barn, but blew down in the 1950s. Gottlieb’s brother Albert was in the house at the time but came out ok. The Obrist family bought this farm from the Bohrens in the mid-1990s, because they felt the need to expand their home dairy, located on Trask River Road, when all three of their sons decided to return home and work with their father, Richard Obrist. (Lone Star)

By Heidi

This January we unveiled a beautiful new addition to our association’s seal – a crimson banner that proudly proclaims that we are farmer owned and have been since 1909.  Being farmer owned means that the farmers in our cooperative guide our decisions and set the vision for the company. Many of our farm families have been co-op members for multiple generations, often farming the same land that was homesteaded by their family in the late 1800s. They are not simply shareholders; they are emotionally vested in creating quality products that begin with high quality milk. To them, it is as much their legacy as it is anything else. They know that the work that they do on their land every day impacts our ability to meet our brand promise.

I always enjoy visiting families on their dairies and seeing this pride in action. It is unmistakable.  You see it in how they beam when talking about the quality of our cheese and when they reference their dairy cows. Last year I sent a photographer out to one of our dairies to take a photo of the family for our annual report. They were one of the families we recognized last year for their high quality milk at our annual meeting. When the photographer got there, the farmer wouldn’t let her disturb the cows with her camera because it was after milking when the cows preferred to rest in the barn! I still get a kick out of that. She had to come back and tell me she took some great pictures of the family but that the farmer, we’ll call him “Jerry,” wouldn’t let her disturb the cows. Love it. BTW…we did get some awesome photos of his cows, just not that afternoon.

By Heidi

Check out the new bling we hung up in our warehouse! We have approximately 25 to 30 big rigs that back up to our docks each day to pick up tasty Tillamook dairy products. We decided we would brag a little about some of our finer points, like our award winning Medium Cheddar Cheese. Even the warehousemen and women like them.

By Heidi