Ever since the peak in the number of cheese factories in Wisconsin in the 1920s, there has been a steady decline in these numbers throughout the years. Just be comparing Maps #7 to #8, by looking at the colors alone, the maximum number of factories per county in 1926 has decreased from 152 factories in Dodge County to just 10 in Green County. The number of factories no longer dictates Wisconsin’s total cheese production. Looking at Chart #2, found on eatwisconsincheese.com, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board website, there is an inverse relationship between the number of cheese factories and the amount of cheese produced. Shown again on Chart #1, the overall production of cheese in Wisconsin has steadily increased, with only small dips in production during the recession of 2001. With the advances in technology throughout the years, cheese making became even more efficient, and the smaller, family owned factories could no longer compete at the same level.



Now, the smaller factories have begun to become more specialized in their cheese making, moving away from large scale operations that focus on quantity over quality, and focusing strictly on quality alone. Places such as Union Star in Fremont, WI, are focusing on quality cheese and added a store front a number of years ago. Cheese makers originally were not business men, they strictly worked with their cheese. In order to attract more customers, especially the out of state visitors that are fascinated with Wisconsin’s dedication to dairy, cheese in particular, store fronts were added to the few existing family owned and operated factories. 

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Despite the major decrease in cheese factories over the years [2,800 in 1922 to 88 in 2011], the culture of your ‘Wisconsin cheese factory’ has continued. Many natives of the state find it difficult to find adequate cheese selections while traveling outside of Wisconsin, cursing under their breath the fact that no one knows how to make real cheese besides true Wisconsinites. This idea of only Wisconsinites being true cheese crafters is an interesting one, seeing as how most of the knowledge of cheese was brought here from Europe with the immigrants, taught and adapted in the New England area prior to 1850, and then adapted again when immigrants decided to call this area home. The cheese factory came with these new ideas from the east, and really began to sculpt the dairy culture that exists today.