The time has come for the Wisconsin Licensed Cheesemaker Scholarship to be awarded, and Anna Landmark is the happy recipient! Who is Anna Landmark? Here's what you need to know:

Anna Landmark, a policy research director for a Wisconsin non-profit, who with her husband, owns and runs a small-scale sustainable farm in Albany, Wis., was selected from a wide field of applicants for the $2,500 annual award from Wisconsin Cheese Originals. Landmark is mid-way through the courses required for the cheesemakers license and is working to secure an apprenticeship this fall.

Wisconsin is the only state in the nation that requires its cheesemakers to be licensed, an 18-month process that involves attendance at five university courses, 240 hours of apprenticeship under a licensed cheesemaker, and a written exam at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.

After using the scholarship money to earn her cheesemaker’s license, Landmark plans to craft both fresh and aged sheep’s milk cheeses, including thistle-rennet cheeses, which will require her to develop her own rennet from thistle flowers. This type of cheese is currently only available via import from Portugal and Spain.

“Wisconsin has such a robust cheese industry and I live in the heart of it,” Landmark said. “However, the majority of sheep milk cheeses consumed in the United States is still imported. I would like to grow this emerging industry and help provide a stable market for sheep dairies in my region.”

A committee made up of industry leaders selected Landmark out of a field of 11 highly-qualified applicants for the Wisconsin Cheese Originals scholarship.

Read more