Podcast appearances and mentions of leslie cooperband

If you've had friends taste your cheese and tell you that you should go pro and start selling it, this is the episode for you. Years ago when that happened to me, I visited Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery in Illinois for a two day workshop to learn more about turning my passion into a business. Unlike most of my guests whom I've only known online, I've personally known Leslie Cooperband and Wes Jarrell for more than a decade, so this is an especially fun episode for me. Leslie tells the story of why they decided to build a creamery and how they got started, as well as some of the lessons learned along the way. For more information:WebsiteFacebookInstagram

Hear from a farm involved in and the leader behind this statewide effort that promotes fresh, locally-grown food. Leslie Cooperband, who co-manages Prairie Fruits Farms & Creamery, and Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton share some of what has resulted, and what might be in store for Cultivating Our Communities.

Hear from a farm involved in and the leader behind this statewide effort that promotes fresh, locally-grown food. Leslie Cooperband, who co-manages Prairie Fruits Farms & Creamery, and Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton share some of what has resulted, and what might be in store for Cultivating Our Communities.

In Edible-Alpha® podcast #73, Tera chats with Leslie Cooperband and Wes Jarrell, Ph.D., co-founders of Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign, Illinois. The Animal Welfare Approved farm and farmstead is home to an organic fruit orchard and more than 100 milking goats that graze and browse on a diverse landscape. They also make and sell goat cheese and gelato onsite and run a thriving agritourism business. Both soil scientists, Leslie and Wes left Madison, Wisconsin, in 2003 to pursue their dream of sustainable farming. They purchased seven acres of soybean and corn land in central Illinois and transformed it to organic fruit orchards, pastures and hay fields. Starting a goat farm and creamery from scratch was challenging, as Illinois doesn’t have the dairy culture or expertise that America’s Dairyland does. But the resourceful duo made it happen. They became the state’s first licensed farmstead dairy in 2005, beginning with just four goats and growing their herd as they expanded acreage. In 2008, Leslie and Wes added a commercial kitchen to the farm, plus a 15-acre grass-legume-forb pasture. And because goats are natural browsers that love choices, they restored one piece of land as prairie and turned another into a woody browse filled with silver maple, honeysuckle, honey locust, willow, poplar and a diverse understory. The property is a work in progress, but once finished, Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery will have close to 20 acres and 16 paddocks for the herd to rotate through. This is definitely not the easiest way to raise goats for dairy. But Leslie and Wes aren’t interested in easy. Their commitment to silvopasture, a type of agroforestry that intentionally integrates trees, pasture and rotationally grazing livestock, is rooted in doing what’s best for their animals, for the quality of milk they produce and for the planet. Along with giving the goats a nutritionally varied diet, this regenerative farming method helps enrich the soil, sequester carbon and prevent erosion. While other progressive farmers are adopting silvopasture, Leslie and Wes don’t know of anyone else doing it with goats. This is all an experiment. Over the coming years, they will monitor the soil health, track which tree and plant species the herd responds to and see how the landscape evolves. They are hoping their project attracts other researchers and entrepreneurs to join in. Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery practices total transparency in everything they do. That’s a big reason why they invite people onto their farm for tours, classes and farm-to-table dinners and to enjoy fresh-made cheese and gelato. The COVID-19 pandemic has halted the dinners and events for now, but the farm and creamery remain open and they still sell their products at farmers’ markets and wholesale. Tune into the full podcast to learn more about these silvopasture pioneers and how regenerative agriculture can yield business opportunities.

In Edible-Alpha® podcast #73, Tera chats with Leslie Cooperband and Wes Jarrell, Ph.D., co-founders of Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign, Illinois. The Animal Welfare Approved farm and farmstead is home to an organic fruit orchard and more than 100 milking goats that graze and browse on a diverse landscape. They also make and sell goat cheese and gelato onsite and run a thriving agritourism business. Both soil scientists, Leslie and Wes left Madison, Wisconsin, in 2003 to pursue their dream of sustainable farming. They purchased seven acres of soybean and corn land in central Illinois and transformed it to organic fruit orchards, pastures and hay fields. Starting a goat farm and creamery from scratch was challenging, as Illinois doesn't have the dairy culture or expertise that America's Dairyland does. But the resourceful duo made it happen. They became the state's first licensed farmstead dairy in 2005, beginning with just four goats and growing their herd as they expanded acreage. In 2008, Leslie and Wes added a commercial kitchen to the farm, plus a 15-acre grass-legume-forb pasture. And because goats are natural browsers that love choices, they restored one piece of land as prairie and turned another into a woody browse filled with silver maple, honeysuckle, honey locust, willow, poplar and a diverse understory. The property is a work in progress, but once finished, Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery will have close to 20 acres and 16 paddocks for the herd to rotate through. This is definitely not the easiest way to raise goats for dairy. But Leslie and Wes aren't interested in easy. Their commitment to silvopasture, a type of agroforestry that intentionally integrates trees, pasture and rotationally grazing livestock, is rooted in doing what's best for their animals, for the quality of milk they produce and for the planet. Along with giving the goats a nutritionally varied diet, this regenerative farming method helps enrich the soil, sequester carbon and prevent erosion. While other progressive farmers are adopting silvopasture, Leslie and Wes don't know of anyone else doing it with goats. This is all an experiment. Over the coming years, they will monitor the soil health, track which tree and plant species the herd responds to and see how the landscape evolves. They are hoping their project attracts other researchers and entrepreneurs to join in. Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery practices total transparency in everything they do. That's a big reason why they invite people onto their farm for tours, classes and farm-to-table dinners and to enjoy fresh-made cheese and gelato. The COVID-19 pandemic has halted the dinners and events for now, but the farm and creamery remain open and they still sell their products at farmers' markets and wholesale. Tune into the full podcast to learn more about these silvopasture pioneers and how regenerative agriculture can yield business opportunities.

Lisa Hilgenberg from the Regenstein Fruit and Vegetable Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden explains how 50,000 plants get maintained during a coronavirus outbreak. Scott Jamieson from Bartlett Tree Experts reports on the kind of essential tree care work that can still be done during a stay-at-home order. Jody Osmund from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm CSA, Leslie Cooperband and Wes Jarrell from Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery, and Melissa Flynn of the Chicago Green City Market are all working to keep local farmers in business during this crisis.

Wes Jarrell, half of the dynamic duo that owns and manages Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign, IL (he runs it with his wife, Leslie Cooperband) joins Jim Lewis to talk about how they got started, why they chose Central Illinois, and how important it is to collaborate with other farmers to grow the local food system and teach people about the importance of supporting local farmers. Wes and Leslie have La Mancha and Nubian goats with which they produce milk for their farmstead creamery, a large orchard which they harvest from for a variety of value-added products (including gelato) and which offers U-pick in the late summer and early fall, and incubator plots which they have rented to up-and-coming farmers who want to get their hands dirty and learn what it takes to be get started farming.

When today’s guest Leslie Cooperband, and her husband, Wes Jarrell, started Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery in 2005, they didn’t expect the goat dairy and creamery to become the primary driver of the farm. Located just outside of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery has over seventy milking does providing the basis for their goat cheese and gelato business, which they run in addition to a vigorous on- farm dinner enterprise. We discuss the history of the farm and its various production and marketing enterprises, including market development, how Leslie and Wes navigated the regulatory landscape in a state that lacked farmstead creameries, and how the farm has grown and changed to meet the realities of the farm economy while staying true to its principles - and we dig into the nuts and bolts of the record-keeping Prairie Fruits uses to keep on top of the profitability of various enterprises and market outlets, including on-farm sales, farmers markets, CSA, and wholesale sales. The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by Vermont Compost Company.

Anne brings State of Cheese series to the great state of Illinois with special guests Leslie Cooperband of Prairie Fruits Farm and Martin Johnson of The Joy of Cheese. Together, they discuss how the super fertile land that mots people make use of for corn and soy is also ideal for raising dairy animals and producing added value dairy products. Tune in to learn more about farmstead creameries in Illinois, the marketing behind added value dairy and how pairings and events can help everybody appreciate great cheese without making them go broke! This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch, the nations largest single-source supplier of grassfed and grass finished beef.