Shepherd's Way Farms History

Artisan cheesemaking is a rare craft in the United States and sheep milk farmstead cheesemaking is even more unusual. One of the best farmstead sheep cheesemaking families lives and works in Southeast Minnesota, one hour south of Minneapolis. Shepherd’s Way Farms’ award winning, handcrafted cheeses are in limited supply but in high demand across the country. With an evergrowing market, Shepherd’s Way — an industry leader — is poised for financial success.

Steven Read and Jodi Ohlsen Read established Shepherd’s Way Farms in rural Carver County, Minnesota, with a small flock of sheep in 1994. The farm relocated to Nerstrand, Minnesota in 2001 as a farmstead cheese dairy. Now located just outside Northfield, Minnesota, the farm is across from the Big Woods State Park. Within three years, Shepherd’s Way Farms had grown to be one of the largest dairy flocks in the country.

 

A devastating arson fire in January 2005, destroyed more than 500 sheep & lambs and all of the livestock housing. Currently, Shepherd’s Way has a foundation flock of 300 ewes. Cheese production continues on limited basis. Shepherd’s Way is a family-based, family-run farm — the farm family consists of Jodi and Steven and their four boys, Aidan, Elia, Isaiah, and Maitias.

 

Shepherd’s Way Farms Named ‘Food Artist of the Year’
“When City Pages asked me to name an artist of the year, one thought rang out in my mind like a church bell’s peal: Shepherd’s Way Farms, Jodi Ohlsen Read and Stephen Read, no question, no second thought, they’re the ones. ...are cheesemakers artists? I’d argue yes, of all the farming-related arts, good cheesemaking is the rarest skill, and one that blends the most disparate fields…’
Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, City Pages