West Marin County – Seeking relief from wildly fluctuating milk prices, another organic dairy family has turned to cheese making.
Nicasio Valley Cheese Co. is a brand-new operation, but the idea had a long maturation period, according to co-owner Rick Lafranchi.
“My brothers and sisters and I have been thinking of making cheese for over thirty years, ever since some of us visited the Swiss village our grandparents left 100 years ago,” he said.
Plummeting milk prices steered the Lafranchis to switch to organic operations five years ago, but the roller coaster ride continued to keep the family in doubt about whether it could keep the 1,100-acre, 400-cow operating going.
“To give you an idea, the price of a hundredweight of milk in 1946 was $6, or a market value of $46, and it’s been going down ever since. Last year [the market value] was $10,” said Mr. Lafranchi.
In 2007 five of the six siblings returned to Maggia in Switzerland and got seriously into cheese under a local expert, who they invited to come out and help them get started in their own operation.
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