The Rural Voice, 1977-11, Page 12Shining stainless steel and white ceramic walls make the cheese making room a bright place, all in the
name of cleanliness.
in recent years has undertaken a program of switching more and
more milk. The price for fluid is higher and thus the emphasis on
supplying for that market.
The result is that companies like Pine River may have all the
quota they need, but they're getting only 50 per cent of the quota
they have. The company bought out the quota of a small
creamery a while back but all that did was protect them from the
diminishing supply of milk because every year the percentage of
quota gets smaller.
It's ironic, because the Pine River Cheese and Butter
Co-operative was set up originally by farmers to serve their
specific needs, just as the O.M.M.B. The company was formed
in 1885 when 1500 shares were sold at $2 each. The first factory
was built for $1594. Like many other similar factories started
about the same time, the Pine River plant was set up to make use
of the surplus milk production during the summer months when
cattle were on grass. It served farmers within a 10-15 mile
radius.
As part of a complete use of the factory's by-products, a herd
of pigs was kept on a farm nearby which was fed the whey from
the plant. This was discontinued in 1914.
In 1935 the company held a celebration to mark its SOth
anniversary. Income for the year previous had been $9369.47.
Like many businesses. The cheese business was in trouble
during the 1930's. But Pine River was one of the stronger
members of the industry and it survived well. It was in 1934 that
PG. 12. THE RURAL VOICE/NOVEMBER1977.
Glen Martin, now the manager and cheesemaker at the plant and
Don's father. joined the company after beginning his
cheesemaking career at Molt
1940 saw hydro installed .1 plant and mechanical
refrigeration installed. In 1947 the ' story worked in the winter
for the first time. In March. 1958. it v, as amalgamated with the
Huron Cheese and Butter factory which had been founded in
1882 and located a few miles north east of Pine River, also in
Huron township.
By 1960, revenue had reached $516,730.36, 1976 revenue, by
comparison, totalled about $1.5 million on 1.229,000 pounds of
cheese and 32,000 pounds of whey cream. In 1955 at the 70th
anniversary celebration of the company F. Bates. Ontario Dairy
Commissioner told those attending that eight million pounds of
cheese had been exported to the United Kingdom in the past
year. That market, for the most part died when Britain joined the
European Common Market.
Glen Martin became cheesemaker at the plant in 1958 and took
on the dual role as cheesemaker and manager in 1965. Don
joined the company in Jan. 1972 because, he said, he was fed up
with school as much as anything. Now he says "I bitch and
complain about the hours but I wouldn't want to do anything
else." Both father and son took dairy courses, Glen at Guelph
and Don at Kempville, where they studied the full range of dairy
topics from cheese to butter to ice cream and fluid milk.
One of the challenges of the business that make it interesting