Economy Smells Sweet to Cheese Maker

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By Mike Jeffers

The national economy has been rough for most types of business, but agriculture hasn’t been hit quite as hard as, say, manufacturing. In fact, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that farm states have fared much better than their industrial neighbors—Michigan’s unemployment rate is 14 percent; Nebraska’s is 5 percent. Texas has some agriculture–especially ranching–but it is predominately industrial. With an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, Texas ranks 20th out of the 50 states: 30 have higher unemployment rates, 19 have lower.

A central Texas farmer thought that the buy-local market was strong enough that he has expanded his cheese-making business. Reporter Mike Jeffers unwraps the story behind Brazos Valley Cheese.