09/28/05 Ballard Dairy and Cheese, part two

Stacey Ballard and husband Steve have their morning-evening milking duties every day but this year Tuesday is the day they process the cheese at their Gooding dairy. BALLARD "Package it on Wednesday, deliver in the local areas here in the Magic Valley on Wednesday afternoon and then we drive to Boise on Thursday and deliver in Boise on Thursday." The Ballard's farmstead cheese, also referred to as artisan, is made from milk from their own Jersey cows. The Ballard's cheese products range from fresh out of the vat cheese curds to rich and mellow aged cheddar. BALLARD "Well mostly we're doing five different kinds of cheese curds that we deliver to all the Winco's, all the Paul's Markets and we have Ridley's and Porterhouse Meats, all in the Boise area. Mortimer's have been fabulous He took us with him when he went to the James Beard foundation in July to a big chef's thing and he took our cheese and introduces us to people in New York." Their specialty pepper cheddar was a third place award winner at the American Cheese Society's annual conference in Kentucky this year. Not bad for their first try into the competition that drew nearly 750 entries. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott