Idyll Farms

Idyll Farms is a pasture-based goat farm and creamery in Northport, Michigan that produces artisanal farmstead chèvre.

Idyll Farms, LLC
TypePrivate
IndustryCheesemaking, Agriculture
Founded2012
HeadquartersNorthport, Michigan, U.S.
Websitewww.idyllfarms.com

Operation

Idyll Farms’ Alpine goats are pasture-fed using rotational grazing practices.[1]

Ownership

The farm is owned by hedge fund manager Mark Spitznagel,[2] who built the sustainable farm after acquiring its approximately 200 acres in 2010 in his hometown.

Idyll Farms herd in Detroit

In June, 2014, Idyll Farms moved a herd of their wethers along with movable pens and electric fencing from Northport to the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit, under the stated objective to have the grazing goats clean up overgrown foliage and help the struggling community through agriculture, jobs, education, and self-sufficiency. The event drew national media attention[3][4][5] but Detroit mayor Mike Duggan ordered the goats removed because of the city ordinance banning all livestock.[6]

Awards

The farm's cheeses have won awards at the World Championship Cheese Contest (including Best of Class) in 2016, as well as multiple and repeat awards (including in the broad all milk cheese category) at the American Cheese Society North American Competition in 2013, 2014 (the farm’s first two years of production),[1] and 2016.[7] Its cheeses were also named a “Best Artisanal Cheese” in Food & Wine magazine in 2016[8] and one of “The 49 Best American Cheeses” in Men’s Journal magazine.[9]

References
  1. Idyll Farms Takes Home Three Awards at 2016 World Championship Cheese Contest, PR Newswire, March 17, 2016
  2. Feeding the Bubble: Is the Next Crash Brewing?, Der Spiegel, December 3, 2013
  3. Fund Manager Sets Goats Grazing in Blighted Detroit, The New York Times, June 5, 2014
  4. A Deadline for Goats to Get Out of Detroit, The New York Times, June 6, 2014
  5. City of Detroit butting heads with blight-eating Brightmoor goats, Detroit Free Press, June 6, 2014
  6. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan Halts Urban Farming Project in Struggling Neighborhood, Ron Paul Channel, June 9, 2014
  7. Idyll Farms rakes in honors, Leelanau Enterprise, September 1, 2016
  8. "Best Artisanal Cheese: Idyll Farms, Mont Idyll; Northport, MI". Food & Wine. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  9. "The 49 Best American Cheeses". Men’s Journal. Retrieved 15 September 2016.

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