116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
VIDEO: Couple finds niche in ‘micro dairy’ cheese
Mark Armstrong found a fellow Iowan and a new line of work after traveling to a conference halfway around the world.
Armstrong, 48, and his wife, Barbara Grant, 56, began selling cheese last year, one of just four “micro dairy” or farmstead operations in Iowa that use milk for cheese solely from their own cows.
They milk eight registered Jerseys on their farm near Springville and make cheese by hand twice every week.
After their vegetable crop flooded in the second year of offering Community Supported Agriculture shares, the two attended the Terra Madre food conference in Italy in fall 2008 seeking a new direction.
“We were looking for a different niche,” said Armstrong, the primary cheesemaker while his wife works at GreatAmerica Leasing.
In Italy, Armstrong and Grant met Lois Reichert.
Reichert makes goat cheese on her Knoxville farm, just 140 miles away from the couple's farm in Iowa. She became a mentor.
Armstrong had operated a copy shop, but was eager to give farming another try.
VIDEO: Mark Armstrong sings with his dog, Hank
Acoustic Farms, their home on Linn Grove Road, includes 40 acres where Armstrong's parents had farmed.
The couple chose Jersey cows because of the milk's high butter fat and invested about $100,000 in the operation.
Alice, Clarice, Carly ... Armstrong ticks off the names of the cows that lounge contentedly outdoors, chewing from a pile of hay.
“These are the girls who do all the work,” he said.
The cows pasture graze in warm weather and are fed hay and corn grown on the farm using organic practices.
Armstrong and Grant created a recipe for an aged cheese they sell at area stores and farmers markets, called Parma Blue, a Parmesan/blue cheese combination.
Cheese curds and cheese spread flavored with garlic and lemon are also good sellers. The couple plan to experiment with flavors using herbs grown on the farm.
Armstrong demonstrates the process, most of which happens in a 100-gallon pasteurizer.
Each step takes time, with whey - the liquid separated from the curds during cheese making - drained overnight.
The operation is inspected by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and tests are regularly conducted on the milk and production.
Armstrong expects the business to grow as more people try Acoustic Farms' cheese.
“I always wanted to farm for a living,” he said. “It's fun to have something to be passionate about.”
For a list of outlets selling Acoustic Farms' cheese, see the Homegrown blog:
Mark Armstrong pours mozzarella curds into moulds at Acoustic Farms in Springville on Tuesday, March 30, 2010. All of the cheese Armstrong makes is produced using only milk from his own eight Jersey cows. His cheese is sold at several area shops, and at the Iowa City and Springville farmers markets, where he expects to sell most or all of his stock this summer. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
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