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"America's Heartland is made possible by..."
Farm Credit - financing agriculture and rural
America since 1916.
Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers
and ranchers.
Learn more at: farmcredit.com.
CropLife America...
Representing the
companies whose modern farming innovations help
America's farmers provide nutritious food for
communities around the globe.
Hi I'm Rob Stewart.
We're dealing in dairy
on this edition of America's Heartland.
Got milk?
Got cheese?
And how about a milkman who brings the best of both
directly to your door?
We'll take you to Idaho to meet a farm family whose
focus on protecting the environment is a key
ingredient in their dairy operation.
Then we travel to Tennessee where Jim and Gayle Tanner
serve up award winning cheese made from...
goats' milk.
Sharon Vaknin is in the kitchen with some recipes
that deliver something just a bit different....
in our Farm to Fork segment.
And we'll take you to Minnesota where the old
style milkman is NOT a thing of the past.
It's dairy delivery... door to door.
All coming up on America's Heartland.
♪You can see it in the eyes
Of every woman and man♪
♪In America's Heartland
living close to the land♪
♪There's a love for the country
And a pride in the brand♪
♪In America's Heartland♪
♪Living close
Close to the land♪
♪♪
Dairy products
including milk from cows...
are one of the food groups that the
U.S. Department of Agriculture says
are important to our good health.
Things like milk, cheese and yogurt can provide essential
calcium and protein to our diets.
There are more than 50 thousand dairy farms
in the U.S.
answering consumer demands that continue to change.
Travel back to 1975 and the majority of Americans
were drinking "whole" milk with much smaller numbers
consuming "low fat" products like two percent,
and skim milk.
That's all changed today.
Reacting to health concerns and weight issues,
the majority of Americans now choose the "low fat"
options from the supermarket dairy case.
A totally different story in the cheese department.
A quarter century back, the average American consumed
about 26 pounds of cheese each year.
Fast forward and today most of us are eating more than
30 pounds annually.
Consumer demands continue to impact production for
America's dairy farmers.
But that's not all.
Dairy farms, like other agricultural enterprises,
must also address environmental issues and
things like animal welfare.
For one farm in Idaho, that requires a family
focus on quality.
Idaho is one of the top five dairy producing states in
the nation.
And if you travel east of Boise...
to a region called "The Magic Valley"...
you'll find a farm whose cattle count is an important
part of the state's dairy production.
Am I accurate in saying that you have 20,000 cows?
We have 20,000 dairy animals.
We're a large family farm, but we are still,
the heart and soul of it, the core of it
is a family operation.
Mike Roth is the latest in a long line of family farmers.
My grandparents came from Switzerland in 1921
and they landed in Portland, Oregon
and they milked cows by hand.
Milking thousands of cows each day requires almost
military precision in handling your animals
and milk.
You can Milk a hundred cows in fifteen minutes here.
I can't imagine how much milk you crank out a day.
The total farm produces about
510,000 pounds of milk a day..
So this is around the clock?
24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Takes a lot of people, a lot of dedicated people.
We have a large family.
I've got eight brothers and sisters.
My father's passed away.
My mom is still here.
She's 87 years old.
Family matriarch, Mary Ellen Roth,
is still very much a part of the operation.
The farm's name is a combination of her
middle name and that of her late husband, Simon.
We never got to go on vacation,
things like everybody else, 'cause you always had to
milk the cows, put the hay in,
and it was just always there.
It was a 24-hour a day job.
Put your finger right in here.
See?
Put it in there.
As you might imagine, the work here means attention to
another aspect of dairy production.
With both of our dairies there's approximately
40 to 45 calves born a day.
We have a full time veterinarian that assists us
and makes recommendations.
We'll have up to probably five different rations,
depending on the stage of lactation of the cow and how
much milk they're producing.
Do you see a better production of milk and meat
from the cows because of better feeding practices in
the industry?
Oh, there's no doubt.
If you look over time, over the last 50 years
how much a cow produces,
we've probably gone from 10-12,000 pounds per head
per year to over 20,000.
And even for an operation this large,
the bottom line demands economies that look at
environmental considerations too.
You have to have sustainability,
it's a circle.
We buy very little commercial fertilizer and we
use our own cow manure to produce our crops to feed
our cattle and the crops do quite well.
And that in turn should reduce the carbon footprint
and we understand that and that's what we're trying to do.
As part of their efforts, the family has created
man made wetlands supporting populations of birds
and waterfowl.
Mike says it's all part of practices that benefit
man and animals.
Animal welfare in my mind is part of the circle of
sustainability.
Animal welfare is taking care of the animal so that
in the end she takes care of you.
It would be not beneficial of anyone not to take care
of their animals for just that reason.
♪♪
While most of us think of dairy cows when it comes to
making cheese, milk from other animals has been used
for centuries.
Not only goats and sheep, but camels and
water buffalo as well.
Artisanal cheese is one of the fastest growing segments
of the American dairy industry.
And we're not just talking about cheese made
from cow's milk.
If you're talking about artisan cheese,
the delicacies made from goat's milk should certainly
be added to the list.
Consumption is up in the U.S...
not only because we've become a little more adventurous
in our food choices... but because changing
demographics in the
U.S. population have added to the demand.
Our Yolanda Vasquez says that's good news for one
small farm down south.
♪♪
♪Sometimes this old farm seems like a long lost friend♪.
Jim Tanner had no idea how prescient the words
to this song would be until he and his wife Gayle,
packed up everything they owned
including nearly a dozen goats---
and moved from the hustle and bustle of northern California
to the quiet solitude of middle Tennessee.
Goats have been a part of Gayle's life after receiving
one as a birthday present in her 20's.
We knew lifestyle with the goats was going to be
more and more limited so it was time to go
♪♪
It also came at a time when the Tanners were
getting serious about breeding goats...
and creating an agricultural business.
So they chose this remote spot with more than
100 acres of pastures, woods and a babbling brook
to build "Bonnie Blue Farm".
We owned property 4 years before we moved here
during 4 years come back
work on it typically during Christmas time
So when the retired couple arrived for good in 1999,
they first built this barn to house their goats.
They then added Saanen and Nubian goats to the herd.
The Saanens- for their higher milk production.
The Nubians for higher butterfat content.
And with the larger herd in place,
Gayle saw an opportunity.
If you're going to have more goats
have to have something to do with the milk
And that's where this modern-day milking parlor
comes into play.
They had the milk...
so why not make farmstead cheese?
Gayle hand milks some of the goats.
That liquid is placed in a small container which is
later used to feed the baby goats called "kids".
The rest of the milk is collected by automatic pumps
to cool for up to 72 hours.
When it's time to make cheese,
Jim transfers the milk out of the tank into stainless
steel containers that end up in the Tanner's
"Cheese Studio".
The cheese studio machinery pasteurizes more than
40 gallons of goat milk at a time.
Come on girls, here you go.
Meantime, the Tanners handle the care and feeding of
their herd.
Gayle often walks around with her yellow wagon
in tow.
She puts out alfalfa hay, fills up feed bowls with grain.
Bottle feeds the kids, checks on the bucks
across the creek and with whatever time is left over
tends to the chickens
A friend came and visited to get away desk job
to be a farmer...
maybe trade in one set of stresses for another
But one role that doesn't stress her out is that of
cheese maker "extraordinaire".
She's become pretty good at whipping up batches of....
now... award winning goat's milk,
feta and raw milk cheeses.
This is what we look for-magic-clean break as we
call it Using her cheese knife,
Gayle separates the curd from the liquidly substance
known as whey.
It begins to take on a cottage cheese look.
It's time consuming and patience is a
cheese maker's friend...
With the whey removed,
the "curds" will drain overnight.
These tubs will eventually be packaged as Feta Cheese.
Bonnie Blue Farm turns out more than a half dozen products.
They've become a favorite at area farmers markets,
but Jim's marketing efforts have also produced a demand
in Memphis and other parts of Tennessee.
Oh I go to demonstrate the cheese to a chef
and I think of two or three say
"This is the best Feta I've ever had"
got to have that on our menu those are direct quotes
Gayle says the good feedback
is a result of the work and care they put into
their farm, their milk and their cheese.
A modest, rural Tennessee lifestyle they share with
their good natured goats.
Our trees are all trimmed up so nice...
Goats are a popular animal.
Around the world goats milk is drank much more often
than milk from a cow.
Goat's milk is whiter than cow's milk and...
in addition to cheese...
is used to make butter, ice cream, yogurt,
candy....and soap.
♪♪
What were you doing in 1973?
Well if you were around then there is a good chance you
were eating cottage cheese.
it was the top-cottage cheese consumption year,
with Americans ate almost 5 and a half pounds
of cottage cheese per person
we're eating less than half of that these days
but there are more options now when it comes to your
cottage cheese choices.
It seems like people either love or hate cottage cheese.
There's not much middle ground.
But it's considered the first cheese
ever made in America!
Just like the milk on the shelf,
you'll find low-fat cottage cheese,
low sodium and even cottage cheese with fruit included!
So what exactly is cottage cheese?
It's made from milk and gets its start...
kind of like cheese curds.
But instead of pressing the curds, they get heated,
rolled and washed.
Then cream and salt get added.
Oh, and why is it called cottage cheese?
The name dates back to the mid-1800s
when milk leftover after butter-making
was used to make a simple cheese.
And where was it done?
You guessed it cottages
We talked about the department of agriculture
food groups earlier in the show.
you know the right balance of fruits, vegetables,
proteins, grains, and dairy.
Well, our Sharon Vaknin is an expert on combining the
best of American agriculture in serving up recipes that
you can try at home.
♪♪
There's a good reason why lots of favorite comfort
foods include some kind of dairy product.
Butter, milk, cheese: they're a staple in any
'fridge, especially mine.
So let's whip up a couple of new takes
on American favorites.
We're making "angry" mac and cheese and
First up, our "angry" mac and cheese.
Now the "angry" part means that this dish
is going to be spicy.
I'm using three types of cheese for today's dish.
I have pepper jack cheese which is Monterey Jack with
some peppers blended in - spicy.
I have sharp cheddar and Montego cheese which is a
sheep's milk cheese.
Now what makes this mac and cheese "angry" is this
ingredient-chili garlic paste.
And it's exactly what it sounds like chilies and garlic.
We have our star ingredients.
Let's make this mac and cheese.
The base to any great mac and cheese is a good roux.
And to make the roux it only takes two ingredients:
butter and flour.
That's what's going to thicken up our cheese sauce.
In goes the butter over medium high heat.
Once this butter melts, we'll add an equal
amount of flour.
It's always one tablespoon of butter
to one tablespoon of flour.
Once the flour it added you want to start whisking
immediately.
Until the two are combined to create a sort of paste.
You'll see it's thickening up.
It's bubbling a little bit.
The flour and the butter are cooking together to create a
nutty flavor.
Now we add two and a half cups of warmed milk.
Right on top.
Just slowly combine them.
Lots of people are intimidated by creating a
roux but it's much more simple than it seems.
So now that the milk is added,
we'll let it thicken up with the milk for a couple of
minutes to insure a creamy mac and cheese.
Once the base is thick...
like this...
we'll take it off the heat and we'll start adding our cheese.
Combine them to make our cheese sauce.
Our cheese sauce looks fantastic,
but now we have to season it.
So I throw in Dijon mustard.
You can also use powdered mustard here if you want.
Salt.
To bring out the cheese flavor.
Ground black pepper.
And our "angry" ingredient, the chili garlic paste.
So here is where you have a little bit of flexibility.
You can make your mac and cheese a little "annoyed".
You can make it "angry".
But I like my mac and cheese absolutely "furious".
So I'll give it two and a half tablespoons.
And you'll see the cheese sauce take on a beautiful
reddish pink color.
Our cheese sauce is spicy, seasoned and ready
for our pasta.
I'm using cavatappi pasta which looks like this.
Little spirals with ridges.
And the ridges are great because they'll really grab
on to the cheese sauce.
So let's throw in our pasta.
Lots of people like to use bread crumbs but I have my
own take.
We're using salt and pepper potato chips as our topping.
So all I do is put the potato chips
in a little zip lock bag and go to town.
It's kind of fun.
Take our crushed potato chips and
put it right onto there.
Alright, our mac is ready to go in the oven for about
25 minutes until the topping gets golden brown and the
cheese is bubbling.
While that bakes, let's work on our dessert.
We're making no bake lemon raspberry cheesecake cups.
And I've got a guilt free version.
The first thing that goes into our mixer is a non-fat
Greek yogurt.
I love Greek yogurt because it's a great replacement for
other fatty cheeses or even heavy whipping cream.
To that we'll add four ounces of softened
low fat cream cheese.
And finally some powdered sugar.
Start that on low.
We'll add a splash of whole milk and vanilla extract.
Whip it for a couple more minutes.
Our cheesecake filling looks good and now
we can start assembling the cups.
First we'll take a few vanilla wafers and just
break them up.
Then we'll take lemon curd...
a dollop at the bottom of each.
And then we'll take our cheesecake filling.
It has a nice creamy texture.
It's a little sweet from the powdered sugar,
but it also has a "tang" from the Greek yogurt.
And then to top them off, we'll put fresh raspberries
right on top.
And the last touch is fresh mint.
Just pop them right on top.
Our cheesecake cups are set.
They're looking beautiful and our "angry" mac and
cheese has just come out of the oven and it looks and
smells amazing.
There's a whole lot of dairy here,
but I'm loving every bit of it.
♪♪
We've given you some details on dairy on the show this
time and we know that most of you head out to the
supermarket to pick up the milk, cheese, yogurt,
sour cream.... or other dairy products
that you use at home.
But for some consumers, dairy is delivered to them.
Our Jason Shoultz says that's the good news in one
Minnesota community when you'll find old style
Milkmen going door to door
The sun is barely up here in Minneapolis and Mike White
is hard at work.
Place for everything and everything in its place.
Loading up his milk, cheese, butter.
He and the other independent milkmen from around the area
are preparing for another day.
The sun will be setting by the time Mike is done with
his route.
We do about 50 to 70 stops a day and how big the stops are.
Mike owns his own truck and
has a contract with Kemps Dairy to deliver milk and
other food items.
So when you drive down the street like this are you
thinking, potential customer?
Potential customer?
Oh yes!
Swing sets, kids toys.
Mike has been driving these streets for 34 years.
And after that many years...
She's barking.
Make her happy!
He's learned the tricks of the trade.
Barking dogs get treats.
What a good girl!
And customers get the extra effort.
When Rollie Troup at the Bean Good Café is running
out of milk for her coffee drinks...
We're a little busier Friday and Saturday than I thought
and oh my gosh, here we are low and Mike to the rescue.
Even though it's not on this morning's route Mike makes a
special stop for this business customer.
People often talk about the good old days...
although its not always accurate way to describe the past.
But if the classic milkman was ever a symbol for
anything it's a symbol of a simpler time.
And for Mike's customers that simpler more trusting
time still exists today.
Hi how are ya?
Close the door when you're done.
Oh I will Like at this stop...
when the homeowner is on her way out
she leaves the door unlocked for Mike.
I know what to do and I just take care of it.
Oh we've got doggies.
So these are things that you think they need
because you know them.
So you bring them in just in case.
Some stuff you refill and others you don't.
Just give them what they need.
Double Fudge Moose Tracks.
They're son Teddy loves that stuff.
Not only do you know your customers by their first names,
you know your customers children by their first names.
Yes. Usually and hopefully.
And you know their eating habits too.
That I know the most.
After he's done stocking up...
It is off to the next stop.
So many families, you know hem.
I mean after 34 years you've seen their kids grow up and
to see them show up and bringing their grand kids and
their kids.
Mike's been bringing the staples and then some
to the Northrup family for 11 years.
People think of the old milk man who drives this truck
and delivers milk.
But he brings in a lot of stuff for you, right?
Yeah, more than just milk.
I mean there is meat, deli meats and cheeses,
I mean it's a wide range.
The profit margin for dairy products is very thin,
so stay competitive home delivery drivers like Mike
have moved beyond milk.
On Mike's truck today he has as many as
400 items for sale!
What about he cost?
Is it more expensive than the grocery store?
If it is, it evens out in terms of driving and
carrying stuff.
That's another element, to not have to carry in
heavy stuff.
Convenience and the personal touch are how home delivery
drivers compete against corner stores
and big box retail.
To find what dealt the fatal blow to most home delivery
in the 70s look no further than the explosion in
popularity of convenience stores across the country.
Until the recent economic downturn there was a
resurgence of home milk delivery in other US cities.
And while the home delivery market is no more than
2 percent of sales for Kemp's here in Minnesota,
manager Pat Elwell says he believes there will always
be a place for guys like Mike.
There are always going to be people that want freshness,
quality and they want that personal service.
They want to talk to the owner of the business.
I don't ever see it going away.
I'm the third generation milk man.
My grandpa and my dad they started it out.
Ironically following in their footsteps was not part
of his original plan.
But after a stint in a rock band and working in gas
stations and a restaurant...
And then I decided I ought to really make a living.
And 34 years later...
he's making a living in a tough business
with a smile and a wave.
That will do it for this time thanks for
traveling the country with us on this edition
of America's Heartland.
We're always pleased you could join us.
And before we go let me remind you that you can
check out video from today's show....
or any of our other programs...
at our website: americasheartland.org.
And don't forget to look for us on your favorite
social media websites.
We'll see you next time on America's Heartland.
You can purchase a DVD or Blu Ray copy of this
program.
Here's the cost: To order, just visit us online or call
888-814-3923.
♪You can see it in the eyes Of every woman and man♪
♪In America's Heartland living close to the land♪
♪There's a love for the country And a pride in the brand♪
♪In America's Heartland♪
♪Living close Close to the land♪
"America's Heartland is made possible by..."
Farm Credit - financing agriculture and rural
America since 1916.
Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers
and ranchers.
Learn more at: farmcredit.com.
Croplife America... Representing the
companies whose modern farming innovations help
America's farmers provide nutritious food for
communities around the globe.
♪♪