 by Tracy Frisch Issue 49 (March-May 10) [Copyright © 2010, The Valley Table] Once upon a time, when Marge Randles took her first cheese-making workshop and began experimenting on her kitchen stove at Fairview Farm, in upstate Argyle (Washington County), her taste preferences ran toward the bland: American cheese and mozzarella. She had plunged into cheesemaking to distract herself from worrying about her son's safety during his first tour of duty in Iraq. "I was literally a basket case," she recalls. Now, five years later, she's a confident and respected cheesemaker with a well-developed palate. At the Argyle Cheese Farmer, which opened in late 2007 after three years of preparation and considerable investment, she produces distinctive cheeses and yogurts and boasts a strong following--enough to allow her to give up her successful accounting and financial planning business of almost 30 years. Randles adopted the tagline, "A real farmer making real cheese." While such a distinction may seem unnecessary, long-established cow dairy farms make up a small minority in the universe of artisan cheesemakers. Until last year, Randles had never tasted gelato, the Italian frozen dairy dessert. But shortly after buying a used yogurt filler from a Connecticut gelato factory, she acquired a small tabletop gelato maker for what one dairy inspector calls her "R&D center"--her home kitchen. She soon discovered that Fairview Farm's rich whole milk (at least 4 percent butterfat) made fabulous gelato (though typical gelato recipes call for 10 percent cream). In early October, Randles was poised to offer the country's first farmstead gelato. "Being the first on the market gives you a chance to succeed," she observes. The Civil War had not quite begun when the Randles family established Fairview Farm. Today, Marge's husband, David, and his brother, Will, operate a 50-cow dairy on the farm's 225 acres in this old agricultural town 20 miles northeast of Saratoga Springs. The farm occupies a fertile plateau overlooking a still-idyllic vista of ridges and valleys. It's pleasing to the eye and a serene place to farm. The Randles met as seniors at Cornell. Even then, Marge had trouble understanding why dairy farmers would accept a federal milk pricing system that gave them no control over what they got paid for their milk. She recalls telling a dairy economics professor, "It sounds like financial suicide." In her financial planning practice (which includes many farmers as clients), Randles would tune in to the assets and resources of each business. When she considered her own farm's future, cheese making caught her attention. "We have high quality milk but not a lot of cows," she says. "We needed an option to have some control of our income. I could see that our farm wasn't growing, but I had no idea how bad milk prices would get and how fast they would drop." The Argyle Cheese Farmer operation already is having a significant impact on Fairview Farm's bottom line. Using 12 percent of the herd's milk, it pays the farm $20 for 100 pounds of milk (compared to the $12 per hundredweight paid by an industry processor). The Argyle Cheese Farmer's cultured dairy products include cheese curds, feta, quark, yogurt, Greek yogurt, and four hard aged cheeses--a Welch cheese called Caerphilly, a washed-rind cheese called Grace (created by synthesizing three recipes), a variation on Havarti, and a Scot-style cheddar she calls Revival. (The name recalls the farm's history: Argyle was founded by Scot settlers, and a century ago, Fairview Farm sold its milk to a crossroads cheese factory that made cheddar, according to a faded receipt book she found in an old trunk.) A self-described visionary and optimist, Randles has a knack for overcoming or working around the inevitable setbacks. "If you look at issues as roadblocks, you'll get discouraged," she counsels. She's also quick to point out that problems sometimes work to an advantage in the long run: After running out of containers for a batch of yogurt, for example, Randles incubated the extra culture in a couple of five-gallon pails. Following the advice of her friend and "cheese coach," Shannon Nichols, she drained, then whipped the bulk yogurt--the result was her Greek yogurt, an especially popular product that comes closest to the real thing as can be found on this side of the ocean, according to a number of her customers who have lived in Greece. It also has captured the attention of chefs from as far away as New York City. Recently, the Argyle Cheese Farmer began offering yogurt in refillable glass jars (as well as plastic) in response to customers' desire for recyclable containers. While it required a fair amount of legwork and the purchase of a commercial dishwasher, Randles notes, "There aren't too many times that people say 'thank you' for packaging." The cheese house is a happy place animated with easy banter and frequent laughter. Lizzie McLean, one of five or six "very part-time" employees, notes, "She's so good to us that if stuff isn't done and it's Friday, we'll stay until it is." David Randles pops in multiple times a day, for the couple consult each other constantly in a true partnership that has helped turn this value-added dairy into a veritable bonanza. Despite her ever-expanding cheese repertoire, "I need Dave to ground me," she confides, adding that she's promised "not to misbehave for a year" in order to focus on developing markets and paying down business debt. Argyle Cheese Farmer, 990 Coach Road, Argyle (518) 638-8966 In addition to the Randles' own market stand on Coach Road, Argyle cheeses and yogurt are available at the Battenkill Valley Creamery; the Saratoga, Troy and Glens Falls Farmers' Markets; and Four Seasons Natural Foods (Saratoga Springs). |
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