A Special Cheese – Middlefield Original Cheese Cooperative

"We not only make the American type cheeses but we make several specialty cheeses," said Nevin Byler, manager and cheese maker for the Middlefield Original Cheese Cooperative at the October breakfast meeting of the Trumbull County Food and Agriculture Committee. The Cooperative is the only Amish owned and operated cheese factory in this immediate area and is located on Route 87 east of Middlefield.

Nevin was the featured speaker for this Food and Ag Committee (FAC) breakfast meeting at the Gustavas Federated Church on the first Friday of each month nine months of the year. The FAC includes representatives of the agricultural agencies in Trumbull County and is a group I work with.

The Middlefield Original Cheese Cooperative was organized in the early 1990s after a separation from the Middlefield Swiss Cheese factory that they had organized in about 1954. The Co-op provides a market for grade B Amish milk shipped in 10 gallon cans. Because of the demand for their cheeses, they buy some surplus bulk milk to add to their supply and meet market needs.

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