An Exciting Opportunity for Higher Education
When the first class from the Wisconsin Dairy Short Course graduated over 100 years ago, it began a process which set leading standards for cheese manufacture. Cheesemakers took their training to the rolling Wisconsin farmlands and pioneered the techniques from which modern cheese manufacturing methods have grown. The Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker® Program was established as an advanced education program for experienced cheesemakers through joint sponsorship with the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, UW-Extension, and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. In order to be accepted into the program, you must currently be making cheese in a Wisconsin plant and hold a Wisconsin cheesemaker’s license for a minimum of ten years. Each Master candidate must participate in the Program’s quality assurance component of plant and product inspection. This program, the only one in the U.S., enhances the quality image of what is already the nation’s premier cheesemaking state and the unparalleled standards of Wisconsin cheesemaking.

Making You the Best
The purpose of the Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker® Program is three-fold:
1. Provide a formal sequence of courses that leads to the title of Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker.
2. Add value to cheese because it was made by a "Master Cheesemaker," like those of European tradition.
3. Equip Wisconsin cheesemakers with the knowledge and skills to be competitive in the marketplace both nationally and internationally.