Wisconsin cheese facts for kids

A 5,210 lb (2,360 kg) piece of prize-winning Wisconsin cheese, made in Denmark in 1950

Wisconsin cheese is any cheese that is made in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is famous for its long history of making cheese. Many people connect Wisconsin with cheese and its important dairy industry.

The History of Wisconsin Cheese

Award-winning Montforte blue cheese made in Montfort in 2013

Wisconsin's tradition of making cheese goes back to the 1800s. Many European immigrants came to Wisconsin because it had very good farmland.

Soon, many dairy farms started in Wisconsin. Farmers began making cheese to save extra milk so it wouldn't spoil. In 1841, Anne Pickett opened Wisconsin’s first cheese factory. She used milk from her neighbors' cows.

A hundred years later, Wisconsin had over 1,500 cheese factories. These factories made more than 500 million pounds of cheese every year!

Wisconsin: The Cheese State

Wisconsin has the most dairy plants in the United States.

Wisconsin has been known for cheese for a long time. A newspaper article from 2006 said that "Cheese is the state’s history, its pride." People in Wisconsin are sometimes called "cheeseheads," which is a fun nickname.

Wisconsin has been the top cheese-producing state in the United States since 1910. That year, it made more cheese than New York. In 2006, Wisconsin produced 2.4 billion pounds of cheese. It kept its top spot even though California's cheese industry was growing fast.

By 2010, Wisconsin's cheese production grew to 2.6 billion pounds. The state even had to bring in milk from other states to make all that cheese! In 2014, Wisconsin made 2.9 billion pounds of cheese. This was more than a quarter of all the cheese made in the U.S.

Special Cheese Programs

As of 2013, Wisconsin still makes the most cheese in the United States. It produces over 600 different kinds of cheese!

Wisconsin is the only U.S. state that requires a special license for people who make commercial cheese. This means a trained cheesemaker must be in charge. Wisconsin also has a "master cheesemaker" program. This program is very strict, like similar programs in Europe. It helps cheesemakers become experts in their craft.