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King of curds: award-winning cheeses—from the central valley

Sunset, Dec, 2004 by Lisa Taggart

Every successful farmer is extremely nimble, at least in a business sense. John Fagundes, whose grandfather started working his property outside of Hanford as a dairy farm in 1916, certainly knows this. Faced with declining profit margins in the 1990s, he cast about for alternatives--and found a candidate close to home in cheese.

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"Farming is ever-evolving," says Fagundes. "If you get a little stagnant or a little bit passive, it could be disastrous. You have to keep changing with the times."

He began transforming milk from the ranch's dairy cows into 10 varieties of Fagundes Old World Cheese, from jack and cheddar to traditional Portuguese types called St. Jorge (sharp and nutty) and St. John (a mild white), developed from family recipes.

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The five-year-old company won 21 medals this year in taste-offs in California and national cheese competitions. The family, collecting medals since 2000, was quite happy about their success.

At the farm's tasting room, visitors can sample cheese and see how it's made. Fagundes hopes to increase cheese production to half his business. But he also has other plans, including growing organic kiwis and reestablishing chestnuts as an American crop. And he's currently preserving vernal pools on his 1,200-acre ranch through conservation easements.

Farming, it seems, is a business for optimists, and Fagundes just got a boost: His oldest daughter started her freshman year in college this fall--as a dairy science major.

King of curds: award-winning cheeses—from the central valley

Sunset, Dec, 2004 by Lisa Taggart

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