Sweetwater Valley Farm

 

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Video Transcript

Chuck Denney-Narrator (UT Institute of Agriculture)
Sweetwater Valley Farm has a buzz phrase – Cheese, Cows and Wows! It sums up the marketing plan here. A thousand cattle and some hard-working people making sure they’re productive.

John Harrison (Sweetwater Valley Farm)
“This year we’re producing about twenty million pounds of milk. We’ll put two to three million pounds of milk into cheese production a year.”

Chuck Denney
John Harrison is a dairy producer and a cheese maker. About a decade ago, Sweetwater Valley started taking its milk and producing cheddar. They soon found out the public wanted more flavors. So now, mild to sharp, they offer two dozen varieties

John Harrison
“I’ve always had this kind of fascination or interest in having customers and having a type of business like that, doing something with the product.”

Chuck Denney
Half of Sweetwater Valley’s cheese is sold directly to people at this on-farm store. Also customers can look through a window and see cheese being sliced and packaged. Harrison says, if people take time to visit, he wants them to learn something.

John Harrison
"Well, I think as dairy farmers, we’ve got to do a better job telling the public what we do. I think the public has a desire to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced.”

Chuck Denney
This barn doubles as an information center about dairy farming. Called the “udder story” – 40-thousand people visited in its first year. Sweetwater Valley also includes an educational side. The lesson taught here is about how the dairy industry helps feed the world, and ways this farm contributes to both the local and global economies.

Dr. Gina Pighetti (UT AgResearch)
“Everybody wants a local supply of milk because the closer you have, the better quality.”

Chuck Denney
Dr. Gina Pighetti of UT AgResearch wants to see farms like Sweetwater Valley do well because we need a thriving dairy industry in Tennessee. But still these are challenging times for dairy producers.

Dr. Gina Pighetti
“In terms of the money they get for their product, we generally say it’s not enough to cover the costs. Feed costs are dominant, and the equipment they need to buy to milk the cows, house the cows, get ventilation, feed supplies. So it’s just tough."

Chuck Denney
Meantime John Harrison remains a firm believer that diversification minimizes risk. He looks to increase the cheese, cows and wows, and says if the public knows about you, they’ll support you.

END

NOTE: John Harrison was recently recognized as one of the national winners in the “Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year” awards, presented by the International Dairy Foods Association and “Dairy Today” magazine.