The Associated Milk Producers Inc. recently installed new cheese-making equipment and technology at its Paynesville, Minn., plant.

Paynesville cheesemakers began production in late October in seven state-of-the-art cheese vats. The new equipment will boost daily cheddar cheese production to about 300,000 pounds, up from approximately 240,000 pounds of cheese per day previously.

“Making cheese is what AMPI does exceptionally well, and our customers want more of it,” said Mike Hinrichsen, AMPI vice president of cheese and whey manufacturing, in a company news release. “As consumers crave more cheese, we’re the farmer-owned cooperative that delivers.”

Cheddar cheese consumption continues to grow in the U.S. In 2017, consumption reached an all-time high at more than 11 pounds per person, according to AMPI.

NEW CHEESE VATS: This is one of seven new 60,000-pound capacity cheese vats inside the AMPI cheese manufacturing plant in Paynesville, Minn. The vats feature state-of-the-art technology and controls, resulting in increased cheese yields.

Steve Schlangen, an Albany, Minn., dairy farmer and chairman of the AMPI board of directors, said the Paynesville project will provide capacity to process milk produced on area member farms for years to come. The new vats have increased plant processing capacity by about 600,000 pounds of milk per day.

“[It also] cements our place in the community as a long-term employer,” he said.

AMPI receives state ag grant
In recognition of the project’s benefits to the state’s economy, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture awarded AMPI an Agriculture Growth, Research and Innovation Value-Added Grant this year totaling $199,999.

The new cheese-making technology also was installed at AMPI’s Sanborn, Iowa, plant in December 2017.

AMPI is headquartered in New Ulm, Minn., and owned by dairy farm families from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. AMPI members annually market about 5.7 billion pounds of milk, resulting in $1.7 billion in sales for the cooperative. It owns 10 Midwest-based manufacturing plants where about 10% of the American-type cheese and butter in the U.S. is produced.