Iowa Ag Secretary tours WW Homestead Dairy ... WW Homestead Dairy ownership partner Tom Weighner (left) and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig (right) observe the operation of the new cheese curd mill purchased by WW Homestead Dairy this year with assistance from a Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant awarded to the family-owned dairy processing facility in Waukon through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The cheese curd operations were just part of the overall tour of the facility taken by Secretary Naig, as he visited both Allamakee County and Fayette County in wrapping up his annual 99-county tour of the state of Iowa. Standard photo by Joe Moses.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig visited WW Homestead Dairy in Waukon Wednesday, December 4 for a tour of the company’s retail store and areas dedicated to cheese, ice cream and milk production in addition to discussion relating to the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant that was awarded to the business earlier this year through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Tom Weighner, a WW Homestead Dairy ownership partner, provided a tour of the facility to Secretary Naig with Executive Director Mariah Busta of the Iowa State Dairy Association (ISDA) and Member Services Manager Ryan Wagner of Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative (ACEC) joining the tour and discussion.
At the beginning of the tour, Weighner discussed WW Homestead Dairy’s purchase of a new cheese curd mill, a production and technology upgrade made possible through the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant, which he advised has allowed for increased frozen-breaded cheese curd production. Weighner said the company’s previous cheese curd mill is still available on site for use as needed to meet large orders or increased short term production. It was noted that the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant awarded $11,250 toward the new cheese curd mill purchase with matching funds required of WW Homestead Dairy to meet the total project cost of $22,500.
During the tour, Weighner also discussed the company’s business operations and product line by noting that cheese curd production typically takes place three days a week with that production sometimes expanding to four days a week in the summertime. Weighner noted that milk bottling is generally performed Mondays with Tuesdays to include cheese curd, butter and cottage cheese production.
Naig and Weighner discussed steps that would allow WW Homestead Dairy to have a presence at the Iowa State Fair with breaded cheese curd sales being an option. Weighner also talked about fundraisers that have used cheese curds, as well as bagged milk sales to schools and colleges which have provided savings per serving for these consumers. Weighner, Naig, Busta and Wagner also discussed a variety of industry and agriculture trends during the tour.
Following the facility tour, Naig provided comments to The Standard relating to the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant Program. Naig advised that “Choose Iowa” is the branded program that was launched at the 2023 Iowa State Fair which emphasizes Iowa grown and Iowa raised food products with the goal of connecting local producers to consumers. He highlighted Choose Iowa’s website, www.chooseiowa.com, by noting that as a relatively new program, there are currently 130-140 member producers selling food and agriculture-related goods directly to consumers.
Relating to this program’s grant opportunities, Secretary Naig advised that there are three grant categories including the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant, the Choose Iowa Value-Added Grant and grants available through the Butchery Innovation and Revitalization Program relating to meat production.
Naig explained that WW Homestead Dairy was one of 20 grant recipients in the previous round of funding in 2024 for the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant, which itself is divided into two categories including On-Farm Processing, through which WW Homestead Dairy received funding, and Labor Reducing Technology on dairy farms. Naig advised that the second round for grant applications has just closed with those applications now being reviewed and scored and the winners to be announced in early 2025.
Relating to other stops during his northeast Iowa visit, Secretary Naig advised that later that same day he would be presenting the Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award to the Tim and Amanda Arthur family of rural Sumner in Fayette County with that presentation to take place at the Hawkeye Community Hall in Hawkeye. With that Fayette County visit, Naig advised that he will be completing his annual 99-County Tour, which started this year in Dallas County.