MONROE - Green County Fair cheese entries sold for about $56 per pound on average Sunday at the fair's Blue Ribbon Cheese Auction, a 19-percent drop from last year when bidders were shelling out $69 per pound.
The auction raised about $30,880 from 553 pounds of cheese this year. The auction raised $34,000 from 496 pounds of cheese in 2013.
The auction is part of fund-raising efforts by the Foreign Type Cheesemakers Association, which is using some of the proceeds to help bring a 17-piece Swiss band to Monroe to celebrate Green County's 100th anniversary of Cheese Days in September. The association also helps sponsor other Green County events and organizations, including the Green County Historical Society, EMS, Breakfast on the Farm and Dairy Days.
The top-selling cheese this year was brick, hitting $130 per pound in six-pound blocks.
Badger State Propane placed that top bid to win Klondike Cheese Company's Steve Buholzer's second-place entry. Klondike's Dave Buholzer's third-place entry brought $125 and $120 per pound - the second and third highest bids of the day - from Faith Engineering and Coplien Painting. The remaining brick came in at $60 to $100 per pound.
Baby Swiss and cheddar, both in 5-pound blocks, caught high bids of $120 per pound.
Ruchti Stainless Inc. won second-place cheddar from Shirley Knox of Maple Leaf Cheese Co-op for that top bid. Quest Industrial and Precision Drive and Control Inc. bought up two more blocks at the same price. Colony Brands had won the first round of bidding at $110 per pound. First-place cheddar from Roger Larson of Maple Leaf brought $65 per pound from Dairy Directions, which took all 20 pounds in the lot.
Precision Drive and Control came out strong in the first round of bids for Baby Swiss, buying up a five-pound block from first-place Jamie Fahrney of Chalet Co-op for $120 a pound, beating out Ruchti Stainless, who came back the winner in the second round at $100 a pound. Sugar River Bank came out at $90 for a third block. Remaining Baby Swiss sold for $40 to $70 per pound.
One five-pound block of regular Swiss cheese pulled $107.50 per pound from Quest Industrial for the second-place entry by Silvan Blum of Chalet Cheese Co-op. The remaining three blocks in the lot went for $100 per pound from Faith Engineering, R. Muller Services and Equipment and Badger State Propane. First-place Swiss by Neal Schwartz, also of Chalet, sold at $50 to $75 per pound.
Blum and Schwartz, with 20 pounds of Swiss cheese each, were once again the only fair entrants in the category. Last year at the auction, their Swiss took in $6,000, averaging $150 per pound and ranging from $105 to $170, the top bid of all the cheeses at the auction.
Muenster grabbed $105 per pound at its highest from Mahlkuch Electric for seven pounds of first-place cheese made by John Jay Lewis of Decatur Dairy. R. Mueller Services and Equipment got in on the first lot sold with a bid of $90. Remaining Muenster sold for $40 to $75 per pound.
R. Mueller also claimed the fair's Grand Champion winner, a single, 15-pound lot of smear-ripened Roth Private Reserve from Emmi-Roth USA, Inc. The company's opening bid of $100 per pound did not see a challenger. The remaining smear-ripened category brought $60 to $75 per pound for Limburger from Chalet Cheese Co-op; $30 to $65 per pound for Gran Cru Surchoix from Emmi-Roth USA; and $25 to $35 for Emmi's Gran Cru Reserve.
Other fair cheese categories sold in larger blocks of 10 to 12 pounds each. Those top money-earners at the auction and their winning bidders were first-place Dill Havarti made by Steve Stettler of Decatur, 10 pounds at $70 per pound from Quest industrial; third-place Havarti by Stettler, 10 pounds at $45 from Faith Engineering; first-place Gouda by Brett Krattiger of Maple Leaf Cheese, 12 pounds at $35 from Sugar River Bank; and second-place Dill Havarti by Ron Bechtolt of Klondike Cheese, 10 pounds at $40 from Colony Brands.
The auction raised about $30,880 from 553 pounds of cheese this year. The auction raised $34,000 from 496 pounds of cheese in 2013.
The auction is part of fund-raising efforts by the Foreign Type Cheesemakers Association, which is using some of the proceeds to help bring a 17-piece Swiss band to Monroe to celebrate Green County's 100th anniversary of Cheese Days in September. The association also helps sponsor other Green County events and organizations, including the Green County Historical Society, EMS, Breakfast on the Farm and Dairy Days.
The top-selling cheese this year was brick, hitting $130 per pound in six-pound blocks.
Badger State Propane placed that top bid to win Klondike Cheese Company's Steve Buholzer's second-place entry. Klondike's Dave Buholzer's third-place entry brought $125 and $120 per pound - the second and third highest bids of the day - from Faith Engineering and Coplien Painting. The remaining brick came in at $60 to $100 per pound.
Baby Swiss and cheddar, both in 5-pound blocks, caught high bids of $120 per pound.
Ruchti Stainless Inc. won second-place cheddar from Shirley Knox of Maple Leaf Cheese Co-op for that top bid. Quest Industrial and Precision Drive and Control Inc. bought up two more blocks at the same price. Colony Brands had won the first round of bidding at $110 per pound. First-place cheddar from Roger Larson of Maple Leaf brought $65 per pound from Dairy Directions, which took all 20 pounds in the lot.
Precision Drive and Control came out strong in the first round of bids for Baby Swiss, buying up a five-pound block from first-place Jamie Fahrney of Chalet Co-op for $120 a pound, beating out Ruchti Stainless, who came back the winner in the second round at $100 a pound. Sugar River Bank came out at $90 for a third block. Remaining Baby Swiss sold for $40 to $70 per pound.
One five-pound block of regular Swiss cheese pulled $107.50 per pound from Quest Industrial for the second-place entry by Silvan Blum of Chalet Cheese Co-op. The remaining three blocks in the lot went for $100 per pound from Faith Engineering, R. Muller Services and Equipment and Badger State Propane. First-place Swiss by Neal Schwartz, also of Chalet, sold at $50 to $75 per pound.
Blum and Schwartz, with 20 pounds of Swiss cheese each, were once again the only fair entrants in the category. Last year at the auction, their Swiss took in $6,000, averaging $150 per pound and ranging from $105 to $170, the top bid of all the cheeses at the auction.
Muenster grabbed $105 per pound at its highest from Mahlkuch Electric for seven pounds of first-place cheese made by John Jay Lewis of Decatur Dairy. R. Mueller Services and Equipment got in on the first lot sold with a bid of $90. Remaining Muenster sold for $40 to $75 per pound.
R. Mueller also claimed the fair's Grand Champion winner, a single, 15-pound lot of smear-ripened Roth Private Reserve from Emmi-Roth USA, Inc. The company's opening bid of $100 per pound did not see a challenger. The remaining smear-ripened category brought $60 to $75 per pound for Limburger from Chalet Cheese Co-op; $30 to $65 per pound for Gran Cru Surchoix from Emmi-Roth USA; and $25 to $35 for Emmi's Gran Cru Reserve.
Other fair cheese categories sold in larger blocks of 10 to 12 pounds each. Those top money-earners at the auction and their winning bidders were first-place Dill Havarti made by Steve Stettler of Decatur, 10 pounds at $70 per pound from Quest industrial; third-place Havarti by Stettler, 10 pounds at $45 from Faith Engineering; first-place Gouda by Brett Krattiger of Maple Leaf Cheese, 12 pounds at $35 from Sugar River Bank; and second-place Dill Havarti by Ron Bechtolt of Klondike Cheese, 10 pounds at $40 from Colony Brands.