Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese
Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, A Glimmer of Generational Continuation
Sandra Yerges
Of the many commodities a farmer uses daily, there is one that presents its own set of needs depending on the farm’s advancements: time. Kenny Mattingly of Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese has been on a multi-decade journey of finding a way to maximize his time. Over the years, he has discovered that looking toward the agricultural approaches of others and connecting his goals with his observations were the necessary steps to stay on top of efficiency increases.
Turning back the clock to the mid-1970s, Kenny first found his footing in the farming industry. Even as a young adult at the time, he developed a full-grown passion for dairy production. By experiencing all of the ins and outs of this agricultural endeavor on his family’s new dairy farm, he felt a strong draw to everything from tending the crops that feed the cows to managing the herd.
Throughout his career preceding the start of Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, Kenny was fortunate to explore other farming operations both nationally and internationally. By viewing these businesses, he found community with other like-minded individuals. It was his overseas experience in Europe, however, that introduced him to what new possibilities were available for small farmers.
The agricultural trend that piqued his interest was the number of Europeans utilizing a value-added business model to support their sales. As someone who solely focused on dairy farming up to that point, this was a fresh idea for Kenny. At the same time, he also knew the harsh reality of the other local farms in that area that had no choice but to close. These two clashing elements from his trips abroad commenced his brainstorming about how he could either emulate or avoid the happenings he saw in distant countries.
Although Kenny knew dairy farming was the career he wanted to continue to pursue, there was one aspect of this job that did not bring him the satisfaction he found in the other parts of the role. He mentioned he has always enjoyed visiting and being together with others, so spending time alone on the dairy farm did not fit with his outgoing nature. That was when value-added processing became the clear path for Kenny and his dairy operation.
“The value-added side of it kind of bridges that gap,” he illustrated. “It gives us the opportunity to be connected to more people and hear their stories and share with them what we do.”
Since Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese originated in 1998, Kenny and his wife Beverly’s focus has not just been on their herd of 100 cows, dozens of cheese offerings, and primarily wholesale audience. To bring more community to the operation, they have also worked to invite locals and travelers to the farm to experience it for themselves.
With large, accommodating Airbnb spaces for customers to rent, this business has opened its doors to agrotourism. As a centralized location between many of the United States’ bustling cities, the farm is the fitting location for those to stop and visit. During their stays, visitors can enjoy the sights of the Kentucky farmland while also touring the barn space that houses the animals during milk collection.
“That’s always an attraction to see cows being milked by the robots,” Kenny stated.
This revolutionary robotic machinery, which has been on the farm for approximately eight years, has entirely changed the way Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese has produced milk. By minimizing the amount of labor that must go into processing milk and maximizing its speed, this advancement has been huge for the business and the products it creates.
Around 2020 when the pandemic wreaked havoc on the food industry, efficiency-building projects like these were on Kenny’s mind. Because the restaurant businesses his products were supplying were slowly depleting, he desired to find a way to push through with his own products. Equipped with a plan to make his cheese offerings more customer-ready through new cheese cuts, he decided to apply for the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) in 2021.
Fortunately, his business regained itself quickly after the pandemic diminished. Because of this unexpected change, Kenny desired to utilize his grant funds in a new way. After consulting the United States Department of Agriculture to see if this was possible, he was met with flexibility in re-evaluating the best way to approach the VAPG. In the end, he was able to create a new funding plan to speed up his current production.
With over $130,000 to put toward this goal, Kenny prioritized the introduction of new equipment to grow his operation’s productivity. There was a lot of manual labor involved in his production before the VAPG, such as methodically slicing 40 pounds of cheese with a cheese cutting tool. Now, Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese has a grant-funded block cutting machine that completes this feat in a fraction of the time without hands-on work. This innovative equipment, along with the addition of a freezer to maintain a larger volume of cheese freshness, has made a sustained impact on the operation.
To find success like this in an equipment-focused VAPG project, Kenny explained that a thoughtful understanding of one’s business is imperative. Reviewing the finances and feasibility of a project like this will benefit a producer in using the grant award properly. He also advised producers to remember the often overlooked steps of learning about the equipment and putting policies in place to operate them safely.
Despite having new processes to speed up his production, Kenny does not miss the time to slow down to appreciate the journey he has taken to get here. With the joy that comes with living out his passion and the future possibility of passing along the farm to the next generation, he shared, “We have a lot to be thankful for here.”
