Growing without more cows or much capital

On a foggy November afternoon in Chester Springs, Pa. we had the opportunity to visit with Ken and Sue Miller, owners of Birchrun Hill Farm. The farm is one of very few farms left on the outskirts of Philadelphia in Chester County, Pa. Because of their location and lack of space to expand, the Millers expanded their business to direct marketing specialty raw milk cheeses crafted with their very own hands.Varieties include Birchrun Blue (shown above), Highland Alpine (shown above) and Fat Cat, their very own creation. Although the cheese is made from raw milk that is not pasteurized, because of the 50 day aging, the cheese goes through a natural pasteurization and food safety concerns are much less than liquid raw milk. Cheese is made in a rented space at a nearby vacant cheese room. When the Millers learned that the small-scale facility had gone out of production, they saw it as an excellent opportunity to start their own value-added business without a large capital investment in facilities. Cheese is sold at a premium price at nearby farmer’s markets and in specialty stores in nearby Philadelphia and New York City. The Millers saw this as “their only option” to expand their business and according to them, have not even begun to take advantage of the demand in the area.