By Joel McNair
Mio, Michigan — No one ever said that small-scale dairy processing and marketing offers an easy way to make a living.
That’s certainly been the case for the folks at The Farmers’ Creamery who purchased a recently closed dairy processing enterprise in 2019, moved it to a newly built facility, and opened for business just as the Covid-19 pandemic was getting underway in early 2020.
Owned and operated by members of the local Amish community, The Farmers’ Creamery is viewed both as a business opportunity and a means of keeping small-scale dairy viable at the northern edge of Lower Michigan’s farming country.
More than two years after last visiting with Graze for an article that appeared in the April 2021 edition, the creamery’s business manager, Edward Yoder, can point to progress in developing new products and distributing them throughout most of Michigan and a few neighboring areas.
Customer feedback has generally been very good, and Edward says a number of changes that will take effect in the coming months offer promise for the future.
To see this article in full, order the specific back issue you are interested in. This article appeared in the June-July 2023 issue of Graze.