I’ve written about scenic Highway 2 through Van Buren County in southern Iowa a lot — Van Buren County being one of my favorite getaway places. One of my readers from Milton called and said I ought to do a story about the Milton Creamery. So, on a beautiful fall day with note pad and camera in hand, I headed in that direction, stopping often to take pictures of rustic barns, pastures of grazing goats and Amish farmers working behind teams of horses. One shouldn’t hurry through Van Buren County. (No one else does.) There isn’t a fast food restaurant or stop light in the county.
Sure enough, on the east edge of Milton right along Highway 2 and across from the Jet Stop is the Milton Creamery in a new, all-white building with lots of stainless steel. I parked on the side of the building where there were a couple of cars, only to find the side door locked. I heard some movement in a semi backed up to the dock, so inquired of a friendly fellow if Rufus Musser was in.
“Oh, sure,” I was told. “Follow me.”
So I did, winding through spotless clean kitchens, coolers and rooms with huge stainless-steel vats. I had entered through the wrong door. If I had gone to the front of the building where the visitor entrance is I would have been fine. But the fellow I was following was friendly and courteous. You can always tell the attitude of management by the attitude of the employees. It filters down.
And there he was, Rufus Musser III, behind his desk eating lunch (cheese, of course), but not at all perturbed about being disturbed. He looked up under some of the thickest eyebrows I have ever seen, a smile broadening his friendly face, almost as if he had been expecting me. Tours are very important at the Milton Creamery. Of course, he would be delighted to give an interview.
He and his family are Mennonites. The family consists of his wife, Jane, and three sons, Rufus IV (Junior), Galen and Mark. They hail from Pennsylvania. Rufus actually went to school with Clair Zimmerman, owner of the Dutchman’s Store, one town east in Cantril — another landmark in Van Buren County you don’t want to miss.
The Mussers were farmers — mostly dairy, but also “truck patching.” Rufus wanted more people contact because “cows don’t talk.” In 1992, they moved west to Van Buren County. Rufus attended a value-added conference for agricultural cheese in Ames. A couple of Amish dairy farmers approached Rufus about adding value to their milk.
“How many hats can a farmer wear? You can’t stack enough hats on their heads!”
In 2005, they broke ground. The rest is history and a lot of hard work, patience and perseverance — it takes eight months for cheese to age. Their signature Prairie Breeze Cheese — a dry, nutty, cheddar-type — won Best of Class at the U.S. Cheese Championship in Wisconsin in 2009. Later that year it took first place in the cheddar class at the American Cheese Society. In 2010, Prairie Breeze Cheese won a gold medal at the World Cheese Contest in London, the only American cheese to do so.
Prairie Breeze Cheese is a specialty cheese. In all probability, you won’t find it in your local supermarkets. It is nationally distributed in St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and New York City. Or you can stop in Milton and try some. There is a crunchiness to Prairie Breeze Cheese, which I’m told are calcium crystals, which makes it quite addictive to the palate. Try the curds, too.
All of the cheese is produced from milk obtained locally from hand raised Amish cows. The milk is rbST (growth stimulant) free. The cheese is not considered organic but is “natural.” Including the Mussers, there are 11 employees at Milton Creamery. With all the confabulation nowadays about too much government regulation being a hindrance to business, especially start-up businesses, I asked the Mussers if they had experienced such.
“Not at all,” they said. “The government inspectors are quite friendly and helpful. They only get tough if you do sloppy work.”
Looking around, there is no sloppy work at Milton Creamery. Just great cheese.
Have a good story? Call Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at (319) 217-0526 or email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com.